Dragon Master
by Shinigami Merchant
Summary: AU When Hiccup faces the Monstrous Nightmare in the arena Toothless comes to his rescue and in the resulting chaos they manage to escape from Berk and everything Hiccup once called home.
1. Prologue: Stoick

Dragon Master

Disclaimer: Regrettably How to Train your Dragon is not mine…but I really wish it was.

Synopsis: AU When Hiccup faces the Monstrous Nightmare in the arena Toothless comes to his rescue and in the resulting chaos they manage to escape from Berk and everything Hiccup once called home.

**Warning will contain HTTYD 2 spoilers**

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Prologue I: Stoick

It had all happened so quickly, one moment Stoick was watching helplessly as his only son was left at the mercy of a Monstrous Nightmare the next the entire arena had erupted into chaos as a Night Fury blasted through the caged roof of the ring. All that could be heard was the terrible cries of the battling dragons and all that could be seen was a dark cloud of smoke with the occasional flash of blue light silhouetting the figures of the dragons that snapped and clawed at each other; to Stoick's eyes it appeared as though a mighty thunderstorm had erupted in the centre of the ring.

When the smoke had cleared the two beasts were revealed; both still locked in combat. The Monstrous Nightmare had the Night Fury pinned but the smaller dragon fought back throwing the Monstrous Nightmare off before moving to stand between it and Hiccup. Should the Monstrous Nightmare move to attack his son the Night Fury would intercept it; crouching low and growling as it lashed out at the other dragon. It was almost as if… as if it was defending Hiccup, but that wasn't possible.

With one last slash and an intimidating growl from the Night Fury the Monstrous Nightmare backed down. This was his chance, pulling down a war axe mounted on the wall next to him Stoick charged the mighty beast. Most of the crowd had the same idea; jumping into the arena, drawing their weapons and moving to attack the dragon but many of them now found themselves sprawled across the floor, flung back from a swift slash or a powerful kick from the beast.

Still Stoick charged; he was a Viking after all and Vikings did not run. He raised his axe to bring it down upon the creatures head; in an instant he found himself held to the ground, the dragon on top of him pulling back its head ready to strike; but it stopped.

Looking to the side Stoick could see his son talking to the dragon, telling it to stop and it did. To say that Stoick was shocked would be an understatement. The dragon stared at Hiccup as he ran up to it, moving off of Stoick the dragon walked up to his son with its head bent low showing no signs of aggression. Hiccup ran to the Night Fury's side and to the great surprise of every Viking there threw his arms around the dragons head and _hugged _it.

The arena was silent, not a single Viking dared to even draw breath at the sight of the spectacle before them.

Taking in the sight of his son and the dragon the numbing shock that had frozen Stoick before began to drain away, only to be replaced by a burning anger as he realised what his son had done.

Slowly standing he watched the look on Hiccups face morph from one of relief to one of despair as he faced him.

"Hiccup!" Stoick couldn't keep the enraged growl that tore from his lips "What have you done?!"

His son at least had the decency to look ashamed as he met his fathers' eyes "I'm sorry Dad but you…" Hiccup paused seeming to choke on the words "you wouldn't listen!"

Before Stoick could say another word Hiccup had leapt onto the back of the Night Fury who then took flight escaping through the hole it had blasted in the cage bars earlier and disappearing into the sky.

"HICCUP!" Stoick voice roared into the now empty sky.

* * *

Stoick's eyes shot open as he sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily. It had been five years since that day in the arena and yet still the memory of that event sought to torment him.

With a sigh Stoick dragged a large calloused hand down his face as he lay back down, turned on his side and tried to go back to sleep. His eyes had just begun to close again when the sound of an explosion reached his ears, not a second later he could hear the voices of the villagers yelling and screaming only to have them drowned out by the roar of a dragon that tore through the night. How he had not heard the anarchy taking place just outside his door, shaking his house to its rafters when he first woke up completely bewildered him, but it didn't matter.

Jumping from his bed Stoick slipped on his boots and grabbed the battle axe he kept by his bed. Running down stairs he almost fell when another explosion landed right outside, shaking the house to its foundations, regaining his balance Stoick leapt downstairs and threw open the front door.

Dragons swarmed in the night sky as the Vikings below rushed to their posts, preparing the catapults and torches. Making his way to the lower defences he barked out orders as he ran, half the village was already on fire, but this was nothing new for Berk, like the old saying: old village lots and lots of new houses. Stoick was in sight of the forge when Gobber hobbled out to meet him "So Stoick, what's the plan?"

Without taking his eyes off the gathering horde Stoick answered his old friend "take out as many as we can"

Gobber smiled as he adjusted his hook "ah send them running, the old Viking fall back, nice and simp-" he didn't get the chance to finish what he was saying, all eyes turned to the sky as a high pitched whistle tore through the cold morning air.

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

Blue fire hit two of the catapult towers, luckily the men operating them had had sense enough to jump as soon as they heard the telltale whistle, the villagers could only watch as both towers were engulfed in flames as they collapsed.

Stoick's eyes were not on the towers, his eyes were fixed upon the dark skies searching for the dragon, it would be almost impossible to track or even catch a glimpse of the beast in the darkness but he had to see it. Night Fury's were so rare, in his entire life Stoick had only seen one and the memory of that day had been burned into his mind; it had to be the same one and if it was…

The high pitched whistle cut through the air once more stopping Stoick's thoughts dead, following the noise unblinkingly he watched as another tower and one of the torches fell as a blast of blue flame destroyed both their bases. It was then that he saw it; the brazier that held the fire for the torch toppled falling to the ground, for just an instant Stoick could see a dark figure illuminated by the fire as it rained down.

It had only been a glimpse, a mere second of clear view however Stoick knew what he had seen; the dragon carried a rider.

"Hiccup" the name escaped him as a whisper and before anyone could stop him Stoick had taken off at a run, heading towards the cliffs as he followed the fading whistle of the Night Fury. He didn't even hear Gobber's calls for him to wait.

Tearing through the village at a desperate speed Stoick caught snatches of the battle that raged around him. Even with the Night Fury within sight Stoick did not forget his duty, as he ran he dealt with the dragons that dared to cross his path; in one case fighting off a Monstrous Nightmare that had kindly thought to set itself on fire, burning down a house that had only just finished being rebuilt two days ago; like he said 'old village lots and lots of new houses'. Once he had dealt with the dragons, sent them running and given his men new orders his eyes would return to the skies, the distractions only made him more determined to find his target.

The next he saw the beast it was flying just overhead banking sharply and heading straight towards the docks, he was only able to see it due to the torrent of flame it left in its wake after taking out the bridge leading to the dragon arena. Reaching the cliff edge overlooking the bay Stoick could just make out the dark silhouette of the dragon and its rider gliding across the black water. There was no way for Stoick to follow them now but still he watched as the Night Fury almost leisurely glided away from Berk and into a dense veil of sea mist that was quickly approaching.

So focused was Stoick as he watched the accursed demon vanish into the mist that he almost missed the low growl of a Deadly Nadder, before he had even fully turned Stoick was already throwing his axe but the Nadder was quick. Just as the axe was about to leave his hand three spines were already hurtling towards him, on pure instinct he jumped back, he avoided the spines but fell straight off the cliff.

With little more time than to think of a few choice expletives for his own stupidity Stoick buried the head of the axe straight into the cliff side as he fell, with an all too sudden jerk he slowed and then stopped. Coughing as the dust settled Stoick looked below only to be confronted with a drop of over two hundred feet, with nothing but the freezing sea and jagged rocks to greet him at the bottom. Looking up he could see the edge of the cliff illuminated by the fires of his burning village, there was no way for him to reach it as the sheer cliff face provided little purchase with which to climb. To make matters worse the axe held tightly in his hands gave a sudden sickening jolt as the rock it was embedded in cracked, adjusting his hold he searched for something to grab onto. His Frustration only grew as the darkness made his search impossible. "Loki's balls I need some light" to his great surprise his cry was answered… "I take it back" by a monstrous nightmare at the top of the cliff that had covered itself in fire and was now crawling down the cliff towards him.

The Nightmare appeared to savour the moment as it slowly made its way down towards Stoick, digging its claws into the rock it extended its neck ready to unleash a torrent of flames upon him, but this was both a curse and a gift from the gods for Stoick. The flames the Nightmare had clad itself in burned away the darkness that had surrounded Stoick allowing him to see.

Not five feet from where he clung to the cliff side was a rope, one of the many pulley systems that were used along the docks to unload the ships of their cargo. With one last glance at the cliff face and the dragon Stoick wrenched his axe free from the rock face and launched himself towards the rope just as the Nightmare unleashed its flame.

For countless seconds Stoick felt as though he was weightless, but that feeling swiftly came to an all too sudden stop as he grabbed the rope; his fist closed around it in a death grip as he swung wide and clear of the Nightmares flames. Stoick felt gravity take hold and pull him down with such a force that the flesh on his palm felt like it was being burned from his bones, but still he refused to release his grip. After a moment that felt like an eternity Stoick finally slowed and came to a jerky stop.

At some point during the fall Stoick had forced his eyes shut and now he struggled to open them once more, the adrenaline and fear that flowed through his veins conjuring images of the dark freezing water that sought to draw his life breath from him. He could hear them; the sound of the hungry waves crashing beneath him against the spires of jagged rock that rose from the depths of the unforgiving sea. Mentally slapping himself Stoick finally forced his eyes open; he was a Viking for Thor's sake.

He was still a good hundred feet in the air, the sea cliff far to his left and out of reach, but below him he could just make out the edge of the dock. Looking up he could only see light and smoke from the fires that continued to burn through his village but at least the Nightmare had gone, probably to find easier prey. The sound of battle at the top of the cliff that had rung so loudly in his ears when he had been barely hanging on the sea cliff now sounded like a dull rumble far in the distance; the war cry's and reptilian growls now muffled by the mist and smoke that surrounded him.

Making up his mind Stoick slid down the length of the rope, when he reached the end he was still a good 20 feet up in the air. Securing his axe in the holster he carried on his back he began to swing his legs back and forth slowly building up momentum; on the fifth swing he released the rope and fell lithely onto the damp wood of the dock below, rolled once and landed on his feet.

Crouching down Stoick drew his axe back into his grasp, wincing slightly as the leather hand guard chafed against the rope burns. He searched the mist that surrounded him; nothing could be heard and nothing could be seen, but that meant little. Dragons were masters of ambush; even a Gronckle with its large body and sometimes clumsy movements could become a deadly hunter with the ample cover provided by the mist and this set Stoick's nerves on edge. It wasn't a Gronckle he had seen disappear into the mist just minutes ago, it was a Night Fury.

Ages passed but still there was nothing.

Finally letting out his breath Stoick stood to his full height and adjusted his helmet as he gave the swirling mist one last glare. Assured that he was safe for the moment he turned back to the path that led to the village and began to make his way towards the stairs, still careful to keep one wary eye on the ever encroaching mist. If he could get to higher ground, just get clear of this mist that seemed conjured from Hel itself, he might be able to catch sight of it again.

Taking the steps that lined the cliff side two at a time Stoick was making good progress when suddenly he heard something. He froze as he skidded to a stop; it was distant and sounded distorted but he was certain it was there.

Thump!

The noise sounded again, clearer this time.

Thump!

It resounded through the air and drowned out even the noise of waves breaking against the cliffs below him. A cold sweat began to trickle down Stoick's neck, his throat became dry and he could hear the sound of his own racing heart in his ears, but even that didn't mask the sound of the rhythmic thump that seemed to be drawing ever closer.

Clutching his axe he gritted his teeth as he tried to back up towards the cliff side; at least if he had his back against the wall the blasted demon would be unable to take him from behind.

Another cautious step and another resounding thump!

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" His feral cry echoed off the sea cliffs as what little composure he had managed to maintain snapped.

His answer came when a dark form slammed into him from the right. A cry of shock escaped Stoick as he tumbled over the edge of the walkway and back down onto the docks below, the force he landed with caused him to lose the firm grip he had maintained on his axe and the last he saw of it was just as the handle tipped over the edge and fell into the sea.

Regaining his breath Stoick tried to struggle to his feet, but his balance was off making him unsteady. He nearly fell back to the floor when the boards beneath him buckled; the wood giving a terrible moan as something landed heavily on the dock in front of him.

He could hear the dreaded sound of sharp claws tearing into the wood as the creature approached; at first it was merely a shadow; a black form that seemed to shift and fade within the mist, but as it steadily grew closer he could see the cruel features of the demon begin to emerge. Black leathery bat like wings spread out behind the beast as it cautiously stalked towards him being sure to stay within the cover of the mist. Its head was lowered but a pair of deep green eyes that stared at him with a restrained ferocity glowed in the darkness. With a sweep of its mighty wings it cleared the remaining mist that coiled between them and for the first time in five years Stoick came face to face with his son.

Hiccup sat astride the Night Fury's back, from head to toe he was clad in dark tanned leather armour; the mask he wore obstructing his face from view. He was lean but tall and in Stoick's opinion looked nothing like a Viking, however the air of strength that surrounded him gave no signs of the fishbone of a boy that had once been his son.

Thinking fast Stoick cautiously searched for anything within range to defend himself with; from the corner of his eye he spotted a mess of weighted iron netting draped across a wooden post but with the eyes of the beast trained on him there was no way he could reach it.

His despair at this realisation was short lived as the black demon suddenly turned its head; looking away from Stoick and out towards the sea, the rider followed his dragons gaze and his posture tensed. Never one to miss a chance Stoick dove for the netting; as soon as he felt his fingers brush against the cold metal he heard the dragon cry out in alarm as it turned back to face him, but it was already too late.

Grasping the heavy metal chains he whirled upon the charging beast and let fly the knotted iron chains as easily as he would any bola. A fierce grin broke out across Stoick's features as he watched his improvised weapon fly towards the demon.

In the next moment everything seemed to slow; the net was almost upon the beast, from where he stood Stoick could see that it would successfully capture the dragon and its rider, the netting weighing down the dragons wings and tangling its limbs while effectively trapping the rider against the beasts back.

All his plans fell apart though as he gazed horror struck as the rider drew what looked like the hilt of a sword; with one elegant flick a blade donned if fire burst from the hilt and was swiftly brought down to cleave the net in two.

The twisted metal landed harmlessly in a cacophony of sound on either side of the demons crouched form, the cut links still glowing where the blade had easily sliced through them. As the rider dismounted Stoick backed away, he had nothing to defend himself with and he was alone but still he refused to go down without a fight; when he faced his ancestors in the hall of kings he would greet them with pride, not fear and shame, he would fight to his last breath.

The rider faced him, the smouldering blade still tightly gripped in his hand.

The blade was levelled at Stoick's neck, not a trace of remorse or hesitation reflected in the dark green eyes that he could barely see hidden within the darkness of the mask. The dragon stood behind him, its tail wrapped protectively around the boy; all together it made for a sight that was far more terrifying than the gates of Hel.

When the man finally speaks his voice is low and slightly muffled but each word is spoken clearly and Stoick cannot believe what he is hearing.

"Take the villagers and run!"

"…"

The world seems silenced by these words; confusion, anger and a deep sadness all battle for dominance within Stoick's mind but it is the confusion that wins out. For five years his son has been gone and when he returns he has all but levelled the villages' defences and now…

Before Stoick can even begin to form the questions that rage within his mind a deafening roar; louder than anything Stoick has heard in his life tears through the night air.

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So there it is, please let me know what you think.


	2. Prologue II: Astrid

Author's note: Right heres the second chapter I hope you all enjoy it, I just want to take the time to thank everyone who reviewed, faved and followed the last chapter, I look forward to hearing what you think of this one XD.

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Prologue II: Astrid

Dappled sunlight descended through the trees reflecting off the calm water of the small pond that rested within the cove. Apart from the gentle rush of water and the occasional twitter of bird song the cove was quiet; the very air within it seemed stilled by the absence of its recent inhabitant.

Astrid sat upon a large boulder near the entrance of the cove: the same large boulder she had sat upon just yesterday sharpening her axe as she waited for Hiccup to arrive.

This time she simply sat; her arms wrapped around her legs, her head resting against her knees as she watched the light dance across the walls with a muted focus. Her axe lay abandoned; propped against the rock beneath her. It had been hours since the final test in the arena, hours since she had watched helplessly as Toothless had spirited him away, away from the danger, away from the villagers who had once shunned him, away from a Father that never understood him and…away from her. As she sat there staring at the retreating light her mind turned back to the dragon arena; back to the chaos that had mercilessly unfolded before her eyes. She had tried; Thor knows she had tried to help, running into the arena with no idea how she was going to save him but running and actually doing something for him while the rest of the village stood by. Stoick had been right behind her, racing to save his son with no thought to his own safety but in the end it was Toothless who had saved Hiccup, Toothless who had kept the Monstrous Nightmare at bay and what had the villagers done after seeing this…after seeing a dragon defend a Viking.

They had attacked him.

The last words that Hiccup had spoken still rang in her ears.

"You wouldn't listen!"  
Over and over these words played in her head and there was no denying the truth in them. For so long they had viewed him as Hiccup the useless village screw up, the one who never fit in, could never follow orders and was never where he should be, but they were wrong…she was wrong.

With the fading light and the encroaching cold Astrid knew she could not stay here much longer; at some point she would have to return to the village but even as a strong gust of chilled air sent a shiver running down her spine she couldn't bring herself to move. He had to come back and when he did she would be right here waiting for him.

* * *

At some point she must have fallen asleep as when she next opened her eyes the sun had fully set; her body was stiff and the cold had seeped into her bones causing an uncomfortable tingle to settle in her chest. Stretching she made to stand only to find that her legs had gone numb from sitting in the same position for so long; she took a few unsteady steps to try and get some feeling back in them before she began pacing along the waters' edge. After one full circuit of the pond she made to retake her place upon the rock only to stop when she had climbed half way up.

Lowering herself back to the ground she turned to gaze at the darkened skies... they were empty.

…They weren't coming back.

She had waited here for hours; she was cold and she was hungry and now she would have to make her way back to the village in the dark and pray to the gods that her parents hadn't noticed her absence. She wanted to blame the pain in her chest on the anger she felt towards herself for being so stupid, for being foolish enough to believe that fishbone of a boy. Her vision became blurry and she viciously swiped at her eyes before the first tear could fall.

Frustrated, cold and now even angrier at herself she snatched up her axe and walked towards the exit of the cove refusing to look back.

* * *

With the little light provided by the quarter moon she made quick progress through the tough underbrush of the forest, within ten minutes she had reached the small glade in which she would often find herself working off a days' frustration by taking her axe and repeatedly embedding it in the trunks of the tall spruces that surrounded the clearing. Stopping in the centre she adjusted her grip before whirling round and with a cry burying her axe head in the nearest tree. For the next few minutes the once quiet glade was overtaken with the repetitive thunk of metal meeting wood mixed with the occasional war cries of the young shield maiden.

When at last Astrid grew tired she wrenched her axe free from the tree only to throw it to the ground in frustration. Any other day her session of tree killing would have rid her of the worst of her anger but not today, as soon as she stopped the sharp pain that beat in her chest came back bringing with it fresh tears that only brought the frustration and anger anew. Taking in a shaky breath she picked up her axe and turned to walk to the village.

A muted thump and a sudden shadow was all the warning she got.

Her feet left the ground the instant the claws gently latched onto her shoulders; in an instant they left the earth behind and before she knew it she was being carried across the tops of trees heading back towards the cove. She would have screamed had her breath not been stolen from her, however when she managed to get it back she found herself laughing with the relief that had flooded her chest. Hearing the sound Toothless tilted his head down to get a good look at her; his great green eyes were awash with curiosity and Astrid couldn't help but laugh harder when she saw how cute the off spring of lightning and death looked.

Within seconds they had reached the cove and Toothless set her down as gently as he could but still she stumbled when her feet finally met earth again. By the time she regained her feet Toothless had landed and Hiccup was already dismounting from his back; without thinking she dropped her axe and all but ran towards him. Seeing her coming Hiccup began to backup, looking to Toothless for help then looking back at Astrid with wary but resigned eyes, the moment she raised her arm he tightly shut his eyes and braced for the blow he knew was coming. She almost laughed again at the surprised squeak that escaped him when instead of hitting him like he had thought she would she hugged him.

He was real…he was really here.

Pulling back she noticed the blush that now spread across Hiccup's face and as she realised what she had done she could feel her own cheeks begin to grow warm. Quickly letting him go she stepped away from him and tried to save some of her pride which seemed to have been left on the ground with her axe the moment she saw Hiccup.

"Uh…s-so, h-hi Astrid" Hiccup managed to stutter after a moment; not wanting things to become awkward she hid her smile with a sigh and stepped forward; Hiccup was still trying to form a sentence when she punched him lightly (by her standards) in the arm.

Rubbing his arm he gazed at Astrid with mock hurt and said "well at least some things never change."

"You deserved it."

"For what?"

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting here for you?" she allowed some of the anger she had felt earlier to colour her tone.

A look of confusion flitted across Hiccup's face and he looked back at Toothless only to get a shrug from the dragon, "um Astrid if you remember me and Toothless picked you up from a glade about three miles that way" he pointed in the general direction from where they had come before sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Wait…you were waiting for me?"

"Hiccup!" she was getting angry again.

"Right, right sorry, you're right not the point." In an attempt to hide his embarrassment he walked back to Toothless and started to fiddle with some of the leather straps on the saddle but it was a mistake on his part.

Astrid's eyes went wide as he turned his back to her, even with the weak light of the moon she could see the damage that had been done to the protective leather vest he had made. Scratches and tears riddled the leather and in some places scraps of leather were peeling away, she was actually surprised she could see the damage as the leather had been turned black by the layers of soot that now covered it.

"What happened?" Before he could turn back to face her she had closed the distance between them and grabbed his shoulder, he flinched and pulled back, when Astrid looked at her hand she could see why; mixed in with the soot and burnt leather that now covered her hand was blood.

"It's not as bad as it looks" his quick dismissal did nothing to assure her.

"Let me see."

Hiccup refused to meet her eyes as he idly scratched Toothless beneath his chin, the dragon purred but now that Astrid was looking she could see the underlying worry that hung over Toothless.

"It's nothing, really" He said that as much to Toothless as he did to her and judging by the light clip he gave Hiccup over the head with his wing Toothless was about as convinced as she was.

She advanced refusing to take no for an answer, when he backed up to try and escape he found his way blocked by Toothless. Astrid levelled him with a stare that would have sent Snotlout running. "Let. Me. See."

Trapped Hiccup finally relented; with great reluctance he leaned his back against Toothless and started to remove the harness. The ruined leather fell to the ground in pieces barely held together by blackened strips of cord; Toothless lowered his head to sniff the discarded gear but quickly withdrew in favour of receiving another scratch along the back of his neck from Hiccup.

Walking forward Astrid picked up the remains of the gear however she nearly dropped them when she ran her hand along the panel that had covered Hiccup's left shoulder. A deep cut ran the length of the leather nearly splitting the material in two; she ran her fingers along the edge and felt the damp sticky residue of drying blood. That's when she realised; the squeak that Hiccup had given when she had hugged him hadn't been in surprise but in pain. She could see in now; the way Toothless stood so close to Hiccup protectively hovering by his side and how Hiccup's hand rested on the Night Fury as if the support of the dragon was the only thing keeping him standing.

"Take off your shirt and turn around" as soon as the words left her mouth Hiccup's face coloured with embarrassment.

"Look Astrid its fine I can take care of it myself, I have some supplies I brought in that pack yesterday."

"No you can't!" her voice came out more forceful than she meant it to but right now she didn't care. "Not unless you've suddenly grown eyes in the back of your head in the last few hours."

"As convenient as that would be, no I haven't"

"Then let me see." She couldn't hide the smug tone that edged into her voice.

Now it was Hiccup's turn to become frustrated, with a wide jerky movement he threw up his arms faced her and tried to argue. "For the love of- I knew you were stubborn when it came to fighting but this is ridiculous. It's just a small-argh" whatever he was going to say was cut short when Toothless swept his legs out from under him with his tail and sat on him.

Astrid had no idea what to say as she watched Hiccup struggle uselessly against Toothless; his legs were trapped and he was forced to lay with his stomach flat against the ground, for a few moments she watched him try to squirm free but eventually he realised it was pointless and gave up. Looking at Toothless he narrowed his eyes "aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

Toothless ignored the statement as he looked straight at Astrid and then down towards Hiccup's back before turning his head to look just behind them; following the dragons gaze Astrid studied a series of tree roots that trailed along the wall of the cove, there leaning against a rock was the basket that Astrid had seen Hiccup carrying yesterday.

She walked around the boy and his dragon heading straight for the basket; trying and failing to ignore Hiccup as he tried to get Toothless to let him up. "Toothless get off-ugh…where's an eel when you need one."

Astrid stopped rummaging through the pack for a second when she heard that and gave Hiccup a weird look "why would you want an eel?"

Hiccup met her eyes with a pleading gaze "get him off me and I'll tell you."

"Not until I get a look at your back" was her curt reply "besides what makes you think he'd listen to me."

He looked back at Toothless who was currently occupying himself by cleaning soot and ash from between his scales, when he noticed Hiccup looking at him he made a strange rumbling purr and playfully batted Hiccup over the head with his tail "…point taken."

After a few more minutes of rummaging Astrid managed to find several clean strips of cloth, a small cast iron pot and a jar containing a homemade salve mixed by Gothi that was good for healing cuts and burns; kneeling at the edge of the pond she filled the pot with water before walking back to where Toothless still had Hiccup pinned. Leaving the strips of cloth and the salve on a rock nearby so they wouldn't get dirty she finally turned to face Hiccup. The once green fabric of his wool shirt was dyed black by the blood that had soaked into the fabric but even with the dark colour she could still see the long tear that ran from his left shoulder to the centre of his back. Gently as she could she lifted the shirt and started to roll it up so she could actually get a clear look at the cut; she stopped however when Hiccup gave a sudden gasp of pain. Some of the blood had dried and begun to scab over around the edges of the wound which caused the frayed fabric to stick to Hiccup's skin; no matter how she got the shirt off now it was going to cause Hiccup pain so she decided to do it the quick way: "take a breath."

"What-AHH! Son of a…" his question was cut off as she swiftly ripped the shirt from his back.

When he regained his breath and managed to stop cursing her to the deepest realms of Hel she finally got a look at the damage; a long scratch ran down diagonally from his left shoulder to the centre of his back, the cut had bled a lot but it looked quite shallow, once she had cleaned it and applied a poultice it would most likely heal naturally and only leave a very faint scar.

"It's not as bad as I thought" she said offhandedly as she went to find wood to start a fire with in order to boil the water she had fetched, she made sure to take the shirt with her so Hiccup couldn't try to put it back on.

"I told you so" was Hiccup's surly muffled reply.

Seeing her move away from his rider Toothless finally allowed Hiccup to get up, as soon as he was free Astrid had expected Hiccup to stand and begin to protest again but instead he just lay there seemingly resigned to his fate.

In a few minutes she had gathered enough wood and kindling to get a decent fire going and was about to start striking a piece of flint when Toothless intervened. The small blue fire ball he spat made the wood catch instantly and left the kindling as a pile of ash; she thanked him with a quick scratch under the chin as she had seen Hiccup do earlier and set about putting the pot to boil. Within a couple of minutes bubbles rolled across the water's surface and steam rose steadily into the night air; taking a few strips of cloth she dropped them in the water and set the pot atop the rock to cool.

While she waited she watched Hiccup move closer to the fire in order to keep warm, seeing his rider was uncomfortable without his shirt to help him stay warm Toothless sat down next to Hiccup and gently wrapped his wing around the young Viking in order to keep the worst of the chill night air off of him.

"Thanks bud" Hiccup said as he closed his eyes and leaned closer into Toothless' side, he looked exhausted.

When the water had cooled to a reasonable temperature Astrid carried the pot over and kneeled down next to Hiccup; seeing her come Toothless retracted his wing but stayed close beside his rider.

She set about cleaning the blood from his back first being careful to avoid actually touching the wound; when she got too close she could feel Hiccup jerk beneath her touch so she would quickly retract her hand, afraid that she had hurt him, when he didn't try to move away she would continue. Finally she ran out of blood to clean and could not stall any longer; she scrunched up a clean cloth and lightly dabbed at the edges of the cut, when Hiccup didn't flinch away she began to gently clean the wound. He actually took it a lot better than she thought he would; apart from the occasional sharp intake of breath and muffled cursing he stayed silent, the only time he actually cried out was when she applied some of the salve to one of the dry pieces of cloth and pressed it over the cut, but he had gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and dealt with it.

Finished she stepped back to observe her work; with the dry strips of clean cloth she had tightly bound his left shoulder and upper back, completely hiding the healing cut from view. Before she had bound it she had been sure to cover the wound once more with the salve in hopes of preventing infection. All in all she believed she had done a good job and from the way she saw Hiccup appraising her work she could tell he thought so too.

"Can I please put on a shirt now" he quipped. Rolling her eyes she picked up a shirt she had discarded earlier while searching through his pack and threw it at his head; if he was able to joke with her then he must be ok.

"So how did you do it?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.

He looked down for a second simply studying the flames.

"I know you didn't get it in the arena, you weren't wearing your harness then" she pressed.

His eyes trailed to the ruined leather vest and after a moment he sighed as if in defeat. "I went back to the island."

For a moment Astrid simply stared at him in confusion so he clarified: "the nest."

Her eyes widened in disbelief "Hiccup what were you thinking?!"

"I don't know!" His voice grew louder and more defiant "but I had to do something, I couldn't sit and do nothing and you saw the way the village…the way my Dad reacted. I-I had no choice Astrid."

"No choice? Hiccup you're lucky you got away with only a scratch; you've seen what that thing can do." She paused for a moment watching the firelight dance across his darkened features, "for the love of Odin…it bit a Zippleback in half and swallowed a Gronckle whole what did you think you could do against something like that?"

"We brought the mountain down on top of it." His reply was so soft that for a moment Astrid wondered whether or not he had actually spoken.

"What?"

"The mountain…me and Toothless destroyed the supports that made up the network of caves above the pit; we brought the roof down on top of her." Astrid couldn't say anything, what was she supposed to say to something like that…

"Most of the dragons flew out the top when they saw Toothless start firing shots at the pillars" Hiccup went on when Astrid didn't speak. "That thing caught on to what we were doing and tried to take a snap at Toothless but part of the ceiling was already coming down on her so she couldn't move that well." His voice seemed dead as he continued "when she couldn't reach us she started breathing jets of flame randomly, one of the updrafts caught Toothless and we were thrown against a wall; I think that's when I injured my back" He gestured half heartedly towards the bandages, "there was quite a few stalactites still hanging in that part of the cave. After that we decided to get out of there…the cave was still coming down and there was nothing more we could do; she made a final snap at Toothless as we tried to fly out but one of the last rock pillars gave out and landed right on top of her; the last thing I saw was a wave of hot air, dust and ash coming straight towards me and Toothless."

Astrid found her voice again when he said that but it was quiet and almost choked with the hope she could feel building in her chest "so you killed it-it's dead?"

He didn't look at her, when he answered his head was bowed "…no."

"No? ...but you said-"

"I couldn't see when we made it out" his eyes were trained on the fire "the mountain was still collapsing in on itself and there was so much dust…not to mention the Thor damned mist that never seems to clear from that island." He picked up a stick and started drawing random shapes in the ash that surrounded the fire.

Astrid persisted even when he refused to face her "there's no way anything could survive having a mountain dropped on it."

"Technically speaking it was only the top of the mountain" he joked weakly.

"Hiccup, this is serious." Her voice was pleading, as if asking him to tell her what she wanted to hear but he couldn't.

"I saw them flying back-the dragons, she's still calling them…it's weaker but some of them can still hear it and she's making them go back."

The hope that had been steadily building in her chest suddenly died "So they're still going to raid the village?"

"I don't know" he wiped away some of the patterns he'd drawn in the ash and started again "Me and Toothless were going to fly back there tomorrow and try to figure out what to do next.

Toothless who had been lying next to the fire tracing the patterns that Hiccup made with his eyes looked up suddenly at the mention of his name, an easy smile made its way onto Hiccup's lips and Astrid couldn't help but relax slightly when she saw it.

"Like I said I saw a lot of the dragons fly off and the call she can make didn't seem as powerful so I'm not sure how many of the dragons she'll be able to enthral again" his brow furrowed as he thought.

"You keep calling it a she?" Astrid asked.

"Huh" was his intelligent reply.

"The huge Dragon you buried with a mountain" she said slightly exasperated "you keep calling it a she, why?"

The furrow in his brow only deepened when he finally looked at her "You're the one that referred to it as a queen…as far as I'm aware all queens are female."

A loud crack resounds through the cove as Astrid slapped her forehead "ugh I think you're taking what I said too literally."

He bristled slightly at the comment "well I can't keep calling it that thing or that huge dragon that tried to eat us can I!"

"Well what would you have us call it then?" she asked.

"Oh geez are we actually talking about naming the dragon that tried to kill us?"

"You were the one who brought it up" she defended.

"Err no I'm pretty sure you did" he had dropped the stick he was using to sketch by now and pressed the heel of his hand to his temple as if to fight off a growing headache.

"I don't see a problem, our ancestors have been naming dragons that have tried to kill them for centuries; just look at the book of dragons" Astrid tried to justify her statement but by the looks both Hiccup and Toothless were giving her it was clear she was failing. "Look you said so yourself we can't keep referring to it as that dragon or whatever."

With a look that screamed sarcasm Hiccup said "you know Astrid you're absolutely right, I'll hop on Toothless fly back to the village, just grab the book of dragons from its place in the Meade hall; you know avoiding all the Vikings that now see me as a traitor and add a few new pages to the book all about that giant red dragon of death that nearly killed me."

"You know I didn't mean it like that" she looked away slightly embarrassed but she soon turned back with a smirk tugging at her lips "but you just gave the dragon a name."

Again his intelligent reply was "huh?"

"Giant red dragon of death" at the sceptical look she received she quickly changed it "fine shorten it to Red Death."

For a second Hiccup still looked sceptical but then the look turned speculative " hmm that actually suits it quite well; I mean the last thing you see before it kills you is red so it works on more than one level."

Her smile grew wider at his words however it soon faded when she asked her next question "what are you going to do now?"

He was quiet for a moment, picking up the stick once more he returned to his sketching before he spoke. "Like I said I'm not too sure; I know that me and Toothless can't stay here for too long, I have to see where those dragons that managed to escape flew off to and whether there's a risk they'll come back and start attacking the village again. One thing I'm sure of is that I have to free those dragons trapped in the arena." His last words were said with a look of such determination in his eyes that Astrid had no doubt that he would do it but she still couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Are you sure?" there was a slight quiver in her voice that she desperately tried to convince herself was because of the cold.

"Definitely, you saw that Nightmare in the arena; it would have been fine if-if my Dad hadn't interfered" she couldn't argue with that, not just because he was right but because of the look of pain and rejection that flashed across his features as soon as he mentioned his dad.

Sensing his riders' distress Toothless shifted to rest his head atop Hiccups lap offering what comfort he could.

After a long tense pause filled with the sound of crackling fire and the scratch of the stick through the ash as Hiccup drew a pretty convincing sketch of Toothless he finally asked the question she knew he had been holding back. "How is he? M-my Dad…I mean."

She looked him straight in the eye; the pain rising in her chest as she wished she could give him a better answer "I don't know, after you left he barricaded himself in the Meade hall and wouldn't let anyone in…not even Gobber."

His shoulders sagged and he rested his head in his hands as he looked down in despair "oh Gods…why did this happen." His voice was small and laced with such pain that Astrid couldn't help herself; before she even realised what she meant to do she was kneeling besides Hiccup and gently wrapping her arms around him, she was careful of his shoulder; not wanting to undo all the work she had put into binding it. He didn't return her hug at first so she had began to worry she had done the wrong thing, but then; almost tentatively his fingers slipped round her wrist and he leaned into her hold.

So quiet she almost didn't hear it the words slipped from his lips "thank you Astrid."

The moment was broken when feeling left out Toothless nudged his way in-between the two of them; nuzzling and nipping at them both until he felt they were paying him enough attention, it was such a bizarre scene -seeing a supposed demon of the night behaving like an overgrown kitten- that soon Astrid and Hiccup found themselves dissolving into fits of laughter.

When Astrid finally managed to compose herself again she looked at Hiccup and was relieved to see that he was smiling once more, standing she dusted herself off and reached a hand out towards Hiccup; "well those dragons aren't going to free themselves, what do you need me to do?"

* * *

An hour later found Astrid walking back into the village; her axe fixed securely to her back and a scowl set upon her face.

She had barely made it two steps from the tree line when a voice called out to her "Who goes there!?"

"It's only me Hoark" she said as she walked into the light cast by his torch.

"Oh evening Astrid, what are you doing out so late?" he asked.

"Tree killing" Astrid snapped as she made to walk past him; he didn't dare stop her.

She walked along the perimeter of the outer houses following the route that the night watchman usually took; her pace was slower than normal and she was making no effort to go unseen. The edge of Gobber's forge came into view as she rounded a corner when a familiar voice called out to her "Astrid! Hey babe you're out late" perfect just who she was looking for.

"Snotlout" his name came out as a disinterested droll but he paid no attention to her tone.

Strutting up to her with his usual swagger Snotlout dropped his arm around her waist and tried to pull her closer to him "let me guess; with all the excitement today you couldn't get enough time with this manly serving of Viking so decided to come looking for me, am I right."

The reflex to gag at his words was so strong but for now Astrid settled for a grimace; she needed to have a better excuse for what she was about to do to him than he spoke to me.

Not noticing her obvious revulsion at his words Snotlout continued "well don't you worry babe I can always make time for you even when I'm on night watch, yep nothing gets past these eyes; especially not a beautiful babe such as yourself."

'Ugh how could he actually think any girl would like this' she thought; just then his hand started wondering and Astrid thanked the gods as in her eyes that was more than enough justification for what she was about to do to him. She grabbed his wrist and placed it in a lock; instantly he was on his knees pleading with her to let go; she ignored his incessant begging as she lined up the shot.

Adjusting her grip on his wrist she forced him to stand and just as he believed she was going to release him she delivered a perfectly aimed kick to the centre of his chest and sent him flying; right into the dying embers of Gobber's open forge.

Snotlout ran screaming from the forge as the seat of his pants caught fire, instead of doing the smart thing and heading straight for the water trough that sat just next to Gobber's shop he started running for the main well at the centre of the village his calls of "Put Me Out! Put Me Out!" ringing out clear into the night.

As he ran some of the embers that had stuck to his clothes fell to the ground rolling this way and that, a few landed in a pile of dry thatch that had been put aside as material for building new houses, in moments the bundles were ablaze and villagers who had been drawn from their homes and their posts were running this way and that to try and get water-which was made harder by the fact that Snotlout had jumped into the well in order to put himself out- to douse the fire with before it could spread.

In the ensuing chaos- which involved a brazier being lit unintentionally, the dragon alarm sounding, Snotlout climbing out of the well only to be knocked back in when he got hit in the head with an empty bucket and someone having to stop the Thorston twins who thought it was a good idea to try and barbecue a live sheep on the growing pyre- Astrid managed to slip away and make her way unnoticed down to the dragon arena. When she got there Hiccup and Toothless were already in the arena.

Hiccup was just about to release the lock to the door that held the Deadly Nadder captive; he turned to face her when he heard her approaching "you know when I said create a distraction I didn't mean set the whole village on fire" there was an edge to his voice that let her know he was having trouble holding back his laughter.

"You can thank Snotlout for that; I didn't expect him to try and run a lap around the village with his pants on fire" Hiccup couldn't hold back his laughter this time. When he finally stopped he returned his focus to the blocked door, the second his hand touched the lever Astrid instinctively took a step back; seeing her action Hiccup paused and she couldn't help but feel self conscious. Getting out of her defensive pose she nervously rubbed her right arm which all but itched with the need to be holding her axe and looked around the pit.

Astrid had never been in the arena after dark before and she had to admit it was creepy; with the sparse light cast by the moon and the torches from the village the shadows of the chains that made up the dome of the arena seemed to twist and writhe in the darkness, the low growls of the captive dragons echoed off the empty stone walls that surrounded her and each dark corner she could almost imagine some deadly predator concealed by the shadows that was just waiting for her to get too close. With no weapon or even a shield to defend herself with Astrid couldn't help but feel helpless.

"Astrid." She jumped when Hiccup called her name; so much of her focus had been on keeping herself calm that she hadn't even noticed when he'd left the door and walked up beside her "do you want to do it?"

She stared at him for a moment completely frozen.

Hiccup stared right back at her "Astrid?"

She stepped back again her arms folded across her chest "I-I don't know, I don't think that Nadder will be pleased to see me."

He smirked at this "You'll do fine Astrid; trust me." He took her hand and led her forward; she was still reluctant and only started walking when Toothless came up behind her and gently nudged her forward.

Hiccup led her to the lever and gingerly she pulled it down. The door released slowly; the sounds of clinking chains and creaking wood resounding through the pit as the log barring the door was raised. Any minute now the dragon would come charging out as it always did with its wings spread wide and it tail drawn back ready to launch a legion of deadly spines straight at her, any minute now…

…nothing happened.

Astrid was left wondering whether they had opened the right cage; Hiccup had already walked around the open door and was now standing in front of where the dragon should be but still nothing happened, not even a puff of smoke or a growl.

Cautiously she moved to stand beside Hiccup and gazed into the apparently empty pen.

It was dark but she could still see into the cage, what she saw surprised her; the Deadly Nadder could clearly be seen, its deep blue scales and yellow spines almost glowed in the wane moonlight. It was curled up in a far corner of the cage with its tail wrapped protectively around it and with its wings half spread as if the dragon was trying to hide itself from view; when Astrid looked closer she could see the poor thing was shivering with fear.

Whatever Astrid had been expecting this wasn't it; a dragon that had been the subject of many of her nightmares since she was a child, who she had been taught to fear and hate because of how dangerous they were; to see one cowering in fear like a terrified puppy was just...

Without hesitation Hiccup took a step towards the Nadder; Astrid's first instinct was to grab him and pull him back but the look he gave her when she reached out to him made her stop. The moment the Nadder noticed him approaching it went on the defensive; lowering its head and drawing its wings in close around it as it prepared to lash out at its would be attacker; Hiccup stopped where he was and raised both his hands in a placating manner to show the Nadder that he wasn't armed and meant no harm. Slowly the Nadder began to let down its defences; Hiccup didn't move he simply watched the dragon as it grew less cautious and more curious.

When the Nadder lowered its tail and began to sniff the air Hiccup knelt before it and stretched his left hand out; it took a moment but tentatively the Nader edged forward and still Hiccup didn't move. By this time Astrid was holding her breath, all she could hear was her own heart beating frantically in her chest and it seemed to only grow louder with each step the Nadder took but suddenly she could hear Hiccup's voice.

"It's ok, you're fine" she didn't know whether he was taking to her or the dragon but his voice was calm and soothing and it helped.

The Nadder now stood directly before him, her snout- this close Astrid could see the dragon was female- inches from Hiccups open palm; she was sniffing it curiously and for a second Astrid wondered if she would try and take a snap at it but then she closed her eyes and ever so gently pressed her snout into his hand. A deep hum of satisfaction that sounded like a purr escaped the Nadder.

With his hand still on the dragon Hiccup turned his attention back to Astrid, he took her hand once more but this time guided it towards the Nadder.

"W-what are you doing?" she hissed as she tried to pull back her hand.

"Astrid its ok, trust me."

Reluctantly, very, very reluctantly she let her hand be pulled forward until it rested just above Hiccup's own, then his hand was gone and it was hers that rested upon the Nadder's snout instead and to her great shock the dragon was still purring.

She laughed from sheer relief and amazement and began stroking the Nadder's face; the Nadder responded well to this and started nudging Astrid's hand as if asking for more. She didn't even notice when Hiccup had moved away from her to release the next dragon; it only took Hiccup a few minutes to free the rest of the dragons but by the time he returned to Astrid's side she had already become attached to the Nadder.

It wasn't until Hiccup tapped her on the shoulder that Astrid took her eyes off the Nadder, when she looked back Hiccup was already sitting on Toothless' back "we better go before the night watch come return to their posts" he said.

With a sigh of disappointment Astrid stepped away from the Nadder and watched with disappointment as the beautiful dragon spread its wings and took flight disappearing into the darkness. Toothless was about to take off as well but before he could Astrid had grabbed hold of Hiccup sleeve to stop him "you're going back to the cove, aren't you?" Astrid tried to ignore how her voice sounded slightly pleading.

Hiccup smiled as he answered "heh it's the only place I can go for the moment."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked as she released the grip she had on his shirt.

"Until tomorrow milady" and with that he and Toothless disappeared into the night sky leaving Astrid to wonder; "what did he just call me?!"

* * *

Author note: So there you have it, please let me know what you think and feel free to point out any mistakes I may have made. Thanks for reading.


	3. Aftermath

**AN:** Sorry for the long wait...really sorry

* * *

Aftermath

It was late morning by the time Astrid found herself walking down the stone steps leading to the village proper. That morning she had been roughly awakened by her mother, practically thrown from her bed and dragged to the Meade hall; where she had found the village council, a worse for wear looking Snotlout (apparently being set on fire and repeatedly falling into a well hadn't agreed with him) and a rather bored looking pair of Thorston twins waiting for her. As the massive carved oak doors closed behind her with a resounding thud all eyes rose to meet hers. "Ah Astrid, nice of you to join us" Spitelout called in his gruff voice as he beckoned her forward; she obeyed, holding her head high as she walked across the expansive ancient stone floor of the great hall, the perfect image of a proud, untroubled Viking. On the inside though she was terrified; why was the council gathered? Did they know what she had done? Were Hiccup and Toothless safe? All these questions swarmed inside her mind as she stopped beside Ruffnut in front of the raised stone platform where Spitelout and the other family heads sat behind a long, well-worn wooden table that had definitely seen better days; judging by the mead stains, rifts and dents that littered its surface. Seven Vikings sat before her; their faces grim in the shadowed light of the hall, each face fixed with a differing degree of disapproval and judgment, it was an intimidating sight but Astrid refused to show any signs of her growing unease.

The chair Spitelout occupied gave a loud protest as he stood, the horrible noise of wood scraping against stone echoing off the solid stone walls and pillars of the all but empty hall "You know why you were called here lass?"

"No I don't" she replied simply.

A silence stretched between them as Spitelout glared down at her; no one said anything as the tension began to mount but Astrid held her ground returning his glare with one of her own. She was so focused on winning the impromptu staring contest that she almost jumped out of her skin when Gobber spoke up. "Oh for goodness sake, Spitelout the girls not on bloody trial" at the sound of his voice Astrid turned to face Gobber who was sitting at the end of the table "Astrid we only want to ask you what happened last night; Snotlout says it was an accident but there was a wee bit of property damage-"

"A wee bit!" interrupted Phlegma the Fierce "you call the destruction of essential building materials, traumatised livestock, a third of the village set on fire and the rest of the chaos that we had last night just a wee bit of damage! We might have had less damage had it been a dragon raid!" Quite a few of the Vikings nodded their head and murmured in agreement to this statement but Gobber simply sighed and carried on with what he was saying before he was interrupted "as I was saying; we just want to get to the bottom of what happened, so Astrid could you just tell us and we can call an end to this pointless meeting."

Relief swept over Astrid at Gobber's words; sure she might be in trouble for what she did to Snotlout, judging by the glares she was still receiving from his father but for now her secret was safe and luckily Snotlout had given her more than enough reason last night to do what she did to him. "I was walking back to my house after getting in a little extra training, when this idiot" she jabbed her thumb at Snotlout who stood to her right "started 'flirting' with me, he couldn't take a hint that I have no interest in him so I kicked him and that's when he fell in the forge. The moron thought it was a good idea to run half the length of the village to the well with his pants on fire instead of using the water trough next to your shop Gobber."

"Hey! I'd like to see anyone else run that distance while on fire" Snotlout tried to protest. "What? Did you want me to make it rain to put out the fire, cause I could've done that if I wanted-"

"Snotlout would you please just shut it!" Gobber snapped.

Snotlout was about to argue but at the look he received from his father the boy instantly became quiet and silence returned once more to the hall allowing Gobber to speak. "So what you're saying Astrid is that you kicked Snotlout and he stumbled back into my forge and that's what started this whole mess, yes?"

"Yeah" Astrid shrugged trying to look as nonchalant as possible. They were going to blame her, she knew it, in truth they had every right to blame her and so she was resolved to take any punishment they decided to give her without complaint.

Gobber stood and eyed each of the teens in turn, to Astrid's great surprised a smirk spread across the old smiths face "right well that's settled then," he said "it was an accident end of story." Astrid was sure her jaw had just hit the floor…that was it? No punishment, no lecture…nothing.

As Astrid tried to pick her jaw off the floor Gobber made to walk towards the exit but stopped when Spitelout spoke out again "accident or not they're all still responsible." Gobber rolled his eyes clearly not in the mood to spend his time arguing over a situation he clearly saw as a waste of time "fine they can clean up the mess they made; satisfied?" Spitelout scowled but said nothing while the teens around Astrid groaned at the mere thought of being assigned clean up duty.

"Right you lot hop to it" with that dismissal the Vikings dispersed, the matter clearly resolved.

For a moment Astrid stood there frozen by her disbelief…she had gotten away with it.

When she finally managed to gather her wits and started to walk to the exit Astrid couldn't help but notice that someone had been missing from the meeting. Quickly catching up to Gobber she tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention "where's the Chief?" as soon as the question escaped her she regretted it; Gobber's eyes darkened and his shoulders slumped as he turned back to look at the Chief's house. Located at the highest point of the main village in a spot which afforded the best view of Berk, the all too recognizable house sat. It was usually an inspiring sight; with its slightly larger size and the carved dragon heads that decorated the walls symbolizing the many victories Stoick had won in the past. It was a place for the villagers to look towards for leadership and encouragement during times of strife but now…now there seemed to be a darkness looming over the house.

Astrid was brought back from her musings when Gobber started to walk again "Give him some time lass, we can handle things for now, he just needs time."

She watched the old blacksmith shuffle away until he rounded a corner taking him out of her sight. Heaving a great sigh she shook her head and went to join the other teens so she could get started on the repairs, it was easy enough to track the group down; the twin's complaints could be heard clear across the village, punctuated of course with the occasional clang of their helmets being bashed together, she could already tell this was going to be a long day.

The teens were standing by the well that Snotlout had fallen in the previous night, Ruffnut and Tuffnut had seemingly cornered Snotlout and were now bombarding him with questions.

"Like I said you were already on fire why didn't you launch yourself from a catapult? It would have been so awesome" Tuffnut was asking as she neared them.

"Yeah just think of the destruction your landing would have caused, not to mention the pain" Ruffnut's eyes seemed to glaze over with her own special brand of malignant joy as she imagined the scene of chaos.

"Are you insane?!" Snotlout shouted over the twin's evil giggles "that would kill me!"

"So?" they both said it at the same time.

After that the shouting match devolved into a brawl and Astrid chose to do the smart thing and just sat back and enjoyed the show. It was while she was watching the twin's wrestle Snotlout into submission and then try to shove him down the well (again) that Astrid couldn't help but overhear the daily chatter of several small groups of Vikings that were going about their business in the village proper, there was only one subject they seemed interested in: Hiccup… and Astrid didn't like what she was hearing.

The discussions varied from group to group but they were all whispered in the same hushed tones:

"I heard someone say they saw the Night Fury being controlled by the boy with some weird hand signals, he must have used the same tricks on the other dragons; that must be how he won first place in Dragon training."

"Hoark was saying he saw the boys eyes glaze over as though he was possessed, maybe the dragon was controlling him?"

She wasn't listening to them.

"Did you see the saddle?"

"During the last raid hadn't the boy been saying something about shooting down the beast with one of those thrice cursed inventions of his?"

She couldn't hear them.

"That boy was always a strange one."

"More like a son of Loki than a son of Stoick's."

They had no idea what they were talking about.

"The Night Fury is the unholy offspring of lightning and death; it makes sense that it could be controlled by a child of Loki."

"His mother was always a strange one too."

"SHUT UP!"

…

…

Astrid didn't realize she had shouted until the echo of her outcry reverberated back to her off the cold stone walls of the buildings that surrounded the village square. The anger that had gripped her suddenly fled. What had she done? They were looking at her; all of them were looking at her. They would know. She had to think fast, think of a way out of this mess that her lack of control had gotten her into.

At that moment her gaze was still fixed upon the twins and Snotlout but she didn't see how that could-wait… if she acted quickly, all she had to do was act quickly.

Fixing the three teens before her with a merciless glare she kept her voice low but spoke clearly so that everyone who had heard her initial outburst could hear "We're supposed to be cleaning the mess we made last night not making another one, I've had enough! What if there had been a raid last night?!"

"Astrid chill it's just a joke" Ruffnut stepped away from the boys holding her hands out in a placating manner as if she thought Astrid was about to attack her.

"Yeah, since when have you ever complained when we're trying to dismember this idiot" Tuffnut gestured to Snotlout who was edging away from the well while he had the chance.

"Hey who are you calling an idiot?" Snotlout shouted.

Both the twins' turned to face him, after looking him up and down with a skeptical glance together chorused "you."

Astrid was only half paying attention to them now, her eyes kept subtly shifting to the crowd of Vikings that were still watching her but to her great relief they were quickly returning to their previous conversations; thinking that her outburst had been directed at the three teens that still sat arguing before her and not at them.

Relieved Astrid quickly walked away to get started on her chores; she didn't know whether Snotlout and the twin's followed her, she didn't care.

From that point on her morning became a series of tasks one after another; she would go from fixing roofs to sanding down scorch marks from the sides of buildings to combing burnt wool out of sheep; who for supposedly being traumatized didn't look all that fazed.

Even as she focused on the mundane work her mind wondered back to what the villagers had been saying that morning and how she had reacted; why had she gotten so angry? Why was she still angry? She should be annoyed, yes; they had no right to talk about something they didn't know the first thing about but the fact that she had felt such rage towards the villagers for simple gossip was so confusing to her.

What she really needed to do was walk away, to disappear into the forest and go and throw her axe around at innocent trees until she calmed down; or better yet go to the cove and make sure that Hiccup and Toothless were alright… but she couldn't.

The best she could do at that moment was take her frustration out on the poor innocent nails she was hammering into the wood without mercy before her as she repaired someone's roof.

* * *

It was midday when a commotion distracted Astrid from her work, she had been sanding down a door ready to repaint it when Fishlegs had gone barreling past her; the stocky teen hadn't given her a second glance but the flash of shock she had seen frozen on his face had made her curious. Dropping the wire haired brush she had held she followed Fishlegs as he desperately ran through the village; when he came in sight of the forge he started to yell breathlessly "Gobber!...Gobber! The dra- the drag- Gobber!"

Gobber came hobbling out of his shop "What in Thor's undies is going on here? Fishlegs?!"

In his haste to reach the forge Fishlegs had failed to realise he had to stop once he reached it; when Gobber came out he was all but tackled by the younger Viking.

Gobber managed to keep his feet but Fishlegs wasn't so lucky, he fell back, landing hard in the dirt and was just sitting on the ground gazing up at the old smith with the a look of horror as Astrid caught up with him

"Fishlegs, what's happened?" Gobber asked as he offered the boy a hand up but Fishlegs didn't take it.

"The drag- the dr-dragons" Fishlegs continued to stutter breathlessly from his seat on the ground.

"What about the dragons?" Gobber pressed but Fishlegs was only growing more breathless, his stuttering becoming more prominent and less recognisable as coherent words. Losing what little patience he possessed Gobber dragged his hand down his face and barked "spit it out lad!"

"thedragonsaregone." The words came out so fast and so low that Astrid had trouble making them out, apparently Gobber did too as he knelt and placed his lone hand on the boys shoulder "calm down Fishlegs" the boy took a few deep breaths. "Now again what happened?" when the boy opened his mouth to speak Gobber raised his hand "slower this time."

Fishlegs paused as he processed what Gobber had said and took a few more deep breaths to try and steady his obviously shaken nerves; when his wide eyes no longer looked as though they were going to pop out of his skull he tried again "the dr-dragons…in the arena" He gulped "they're gone."

"Gone? You can't be serious lad" Gobber stared at Fishlegs as though the boy had suddenly grown an extra head.

"It's true" the boy wailed fearing that no one would believe him "I was walking along the cliff heading towards the docks when I happened to look down at the kill ring and saw that the gate was open. At first I thought it was a trick of the light but then I saw that the doors to the dragon holds were wide open as well."

"Did you go down to take a closer look?" Gobber asked.

"No!" Fishlegs cried as he vigorously shook his head from side to side "I thought-"

He was cut off when Gobber started to walk away, heading in the direction of the dragon arena; Fishlegs looked at Astrid quizzically as if asking her what he should do but she could only shrug before silently following the old smith. By the time they caught up with Gobber he was making his way across the bridge that separated the kill ring from the village (he was surprisingly fast for only having one leg) already she could tell that Gobber knew that Fishlegs was telling the truth. From this distance they should have been able to hear the lamentable growls of the captured dragons but the only sounds to fill the air was the rhythmic crash of waves against the sea cliffs below them and the occasional cry of a gull flying overhead.

Increasing his pace Gobber all but ran to the open gate of the ring; "beard of Thor" he grumbled as his eyes traced the arena, just as Fishlegs had said all the cage doors lay open with the only signs of their former occupants being the scratches, scorch marks and various 'leavings 'inside the now empty cages. With a look of stone set on his face Gobber walked slowly around the ring; he stopped occasionally to check the hinges or the insides of the doors but he was silent as he did so; either ignoring or not even noticing the two teens that had followed him into the pit. When he had finished inspecting the final cell he backed away as if he had stumbled, leaning his shoulder heavily against the rough carved stone walls for support as he dragged his hand down his face looking suddenly tired.

"Astrid, Fishlegs" Gobber's voice had an edge to it that she had never heard come from him before but she knew what it was; defeat and despair mingled together to cause a clear chocking edge that tinged every word spoken. "Close all the cages…once you're done head back to the village but tell no one what you've seen…I need to talk to Stoick."

* * *

After returning to the village Astrid dove straight back into the repairs she had been assigned, to her great relief it seemed that Spitelout had taken it upon himself to keep an eye on his son and the twins'; apparently knocking each other over the heads with shields and planks of wood they were supposed to be using to patch the holes in damaged buildings was not his idea of repairs. As a result Astrid was able to storm through the rest of her work without Snotlout constantly hitting on her or the twins' breaking more things than they were fixing; even so it was still mid-afternoon by the time she was finished. She walked home with heavy feet and sore arms, the only thing on her mind at that moment was going up to her room and grabbing a few hours' sleep in her comfortable bed before she snuck out of the village to meet Hiccup. What she had not expected when she opened her front door was to find her mother waiting for her with a pile of dirty laundry and a lecture; for what felt like hours Mrs Hofferson droned on and on about the family standing within the village, how the family name had suffered over the years and how it was Astrid's responsibility to restore it not drag it deeper into the mud. She took her mothers' words in silence; her only sign of rebellion being her refusal to look away in shame, when her mother had finally finished she made a half-hearted apology and started lugging the basket full of laundry down to the river.

Astrid attacked the laundry with a vengeance; not a single garment was able to escape her wrath as she took out her frustrations. "I already cleaned up the mess those idiots made last night" she mumbled as she submerged a shirt into the frigid waters of the river "I apologized, I didn't argue and yet here I am stuck doing laundry!" her voice was getting louder with each word and the women who were sharing the river bank with her started to take notice. "For the love of Freya I'm a shield maiden…Shield Maiden's don't do laundry! Especially not their fathers' underwear!"

Rip!

Astrid blinked as she looked down at the now ruined garment that lay between her clenched fists, balling the scraps of fabric into a useless wet wad Astrid hurled the cloth down river out of sight, taking little satisfaction in the splash that broke the silence that now dominated the river bank. Ignoring the stares and the slight whispers she went back to her work, slowly making her way through the mountain of washing with the occasional rebellious mumble.

* * *

Night fell before Astrid managed to escape the village; when she finally reached home she had unceremoniously dumped her load upon the kitchen table and all but crawled to her room to immediately collapse atop her bed, she had only closed her eyes for a second but the next thing she knew moonlight was drifting in through the open window of her bedroom.

Astrid shot up from her bed only to nearly trip over her own feet as the stiffness that came with falling asleep in a weird position caught up with her; regaining her balance she immediately headed for the open window. Without hesitation or pause she skilfully, and more importantly quietly, scaled the side of the house, within seconds she was on the roof and then cautiously making her way down towards the back of the house using the decorative spines that lined the roof support as handholds. The curved roof led all the way down to the ground allowing Astrid to roll seamlessly into the shadows of an overhanging roof where she crouched, there she waited silently not even daring to breathe as she saw the light from the torch the night watchman carried grow closer. She already had her route planned out, now it was just the small matter of waiting for the watchman to pass so she could stealthily slip into the dense cover of the trees; the heavy rhythmic sound of leather clad footsteps slowly grew closer, the pool of light cast by the torch gradually encroached upon her chosen hiding spot eating away at the shadows that conceal her…but the watchman didn't stop. The light retreats but not soon enough for Astrid, at any moment he could turn around and see her.

Taking a chance she dives for the cover of the trees.

The sudden rustling of leaves sound all too loud in Astrid's ears and she is all but sure that someone would have to be deaf not to hear it.

For a moment she waits, her back firmly pressed against a broad fir tree as she watches the light of the torch. To her shock the light begins to fade from the surrounding woods as the watchman slowly walks away. She forces herself to wait a few more seconds after the last vestiges of torch light have completely faded from her sight, even with the limited light provided by the moon it would be all too easy for someone to spot her. Sure now that it is safe she abandons all stealth; she barrels through the trees and undergrowth, not even slowing when her foot catches on a stray branch nearly sending her tumbling forward, not stopping when stray branches catch her across the face and bare arms leaving sharp scratches along her skin.

Astrid only slowed and allowed herself to catch her breath when the damp mud beneath her feet gives way to solid stone. The cove lay just before her and already she could see signs that Hiccup was still there, the most telling of which being the light swirl of smoke and the dancing shadow of the firelight playing across the coves walls. Walking to the edge of the cliff she looked down to see both Hiccup and Toothless curled next to a small fire. Hiccup lay with his feet outstretched towards the fire, his back resting against Toothless, the Night Fury himself, which would have been indistinguishable from the darkness had the light from the fire not been playing off his obsidian scales, lay wrapped around his young rider, his head resting in Hiccup's lap and a wing spread out across the boys legs. For all intents and purposes both the coves occupants seemed to be completely at ease and for some reason Astrid could not keep the sharp pang of annoyance that suddenly flared through her at bay.

All day she had been worried for them; what if they had been discovered, what if they had been captured, what if…the worst possibilities had piled one after the other in her mind until they had been all she could think about and yet here she found them; calm, relaxed and by the looks of it well rested, everything she wasn't at this moment.

Clenching her fists Astrid made her way to the entrance of the cove, neither bothering to hide her presence or to check her growing annoyance which seemed to grow with each misstep or slip she made in the dark.

When she reached the bottom her annoyance finally ignited into anger when she saw the two figures resting by the fire hadn't even noticed her yet (either that or they were ignoring her and Thor help them if they were); she was suddenly regretting leaving her axe back home. As her mind continued filling with ways with which she could take out her day's frustrations on the pair she failed to notice the shadow she had picked up on her way down.

The soft snap of a branch behind her instinctively forced her to turn.

For a moment she stood there searching the darkness behind her, but she saw nothing; not the telling gleam of armor caught in the firelight, not the smell of iron and sweat and not the stilted sound of someone trying to keep their breath silent.

Only the sound of running water and dancing flames echoed quietly off the steep stone walls that surrounded her, but still; she knew what she had heard. Grudgingly turning back to the fire she nearly jumped when she saw a lone green eye gazing at her lazily; Hiccup still appeared to be asleep but Toothless had now opened his eyes, he did not move his head from his riders lap as he studied her but all of his attention was on her. That was until she saw the great dark slitted pupil move its focus to her left.

"What are yo-WAHH" before she could even begin to turn her head she was slammed to the soft ground when something large and scaly pounced on her, an ocean of deep blue scales swam before her eyes as an obviously excited Nadder nudged and licked her face.

Between gasps for air, laughter and pleas for it to stop Astrid tried to get the dragon that was behaving like an overgrown puppy to let her up but the Nadder persisted in what could only be an attempt to either lick her face off or drown her in dragon drool. The great beast only stopped when a very familiar nervous laugh rang out across the cove.

The sea of blue scales retreated from her sight to reveal Hiccup standing over her, by the looks of it he was trying to stop himself from laughing; and failing miserably.

"Hey Astrid. Glad you could make it."

For a moment all Astrid could do was lay on the ground and stare at the boy in complete shock but when he finally managed to get his laughter somewhat under control and offer her a hand up her senses seemed to return; she found herself wishing they hadn't when she felt the dragon drool slowly sliding down her face. Brushing Hiccup's help aside she quickly sat up on her own and started trying to scrub the foul smelling slobber off, but each swipe of her hand only seemed to spread it further, leaving dangling threads of drool hanging from her hands and face. Growling in frustration Astrid made straight for the water hoping to wash off the rapidly drying drool, she had just made it to the water's edge and was kneeling down when Hiccup realized what she was about to do. "That's actually not a good idea!" Hiccup tried to warn her but by this time she had already submerged both her hands.

"Why not?" she snapped as she brought a handful of water to her face.

"Because Dragon drool doesn't wash off." His voice trembled with suppressed mirth.

Instantly Astrid dropped the water that she had been pressing to her face, but it was already too late.

Jumping to her feet she whirled on Hiccup, even with Astrid leveling a glare that would have sent Snotlout, Tuffnut and maybe even Gobber running for the hills Hiccup couldn't bring his laughter back under control. All the anger and frustration that she had previously forgotten came rushing back, clenching her fists Astrid lunged at Hiccup letting a feral war cry tear from her lips as she swiped his legs out from underneath him sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Ah- okay, okay-ow ow I'm sorr-" anything else he was going to say was cut off as Astrid stepped on his chest stopping him from getting up.

"How do I get this off?" her voice was a low growl and each word she spoke was punctuated with a not so subtle increase of pressure on Hiccup's chest.

"It would…be a lot ea-easier to tell you if I wasn't ha-having…trouble breathing" Hiccup barely managed to gasp out as he tried to squirm his way free.

Realizing she wasn't going to get any answers if she inadvertently cracked his ribs Astrid backed off but not before she was able to deliver a light (by her standards) kick to his side "that's for being a troll, now how do I get this stuff off!"

Coughing and gripping his sides as he slowly managed to sit up Hiccup shakily indicated a stretch of rock a little to the left of where they were standing. Squinting at the darkness Astrid tried to make out what Hiccup was pointing at however all she could see was the stark white walls of the cove. Finally being able to breathe normally again and seeing Astrid's confusion Hiccup explained "the moss that grows on the walls acts as a natural sponge, I think there's also something about the moss itself that counteracts whatever make the drool…you know sticky."

…

Within minute Astrid had most of it off but there was still a bit stubbornly stuck in her fringe. While she raked her fingers through her hair trying to untangle it she tries to distract herself by looking around the cove; Hiccup had retaken his seat by the fire and was busying himself with gutting and cleaning two fish he had taken from a basket that was resting against a rock behind him. Toothless and the Nadder were keeping themselves occupied by chasing each other and playfully wrestling when one of them was caught; by the looks of it Toothless was winning. Watching the dragons play an obvious fact started to niggle at the edge of Astrid's consciousness, she continued to watch the pair for a few minutes; hoping that she would be able to figure out the answer for herself, however when none came she gave up and simply asked.

"Why is she still here?"

"Eh?" Hiccup didn't take his eyes off the now cooking fish he had sizzling over the flames but the tilt of his head showed his confusion so Astrid clarified.

"The Nadder, why is she still here?"

Hiccups eyes flicked quickly to the dragons before returning to the fire. "I thought that would have been pretty obvious by the way she greeted you."

"That was not a greeting" Astrid half-heartedly snarled between clenched teeth.

Hiccup unsuccessfully tried to stifle another laugh but in the end only managed to poorly conceal it as a cough. "It is for a dragon, you should have seen Toothless the first time I brought him a fish" an involuntary shudder rolled the full length of Hiccups body "ugh, I can still taste that cod."

Astrid looked at him in bewilderment as she finally managed to get rid of the last bit of slobber clinging to her hair "That means absolutely nothing to me."

"Please believe me when I say you don't want to know" he gave another involuntary shake of his head in revulsion.

Coming to sit by the fire Astrid drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms loosely around her legs and resting her chin against them she gave Hiccup a sidelong glance "you still haven't answered my question."

Sighing in exasperation Hiccup finally looked at her "I'm not one hundred percent certain…but I think, from the way she greeted you just now and the way the two of you interacted last night…" he paused, holding his breath and looking at her with wide green eyes that seemed to be searching her face for an answer "I think she may have bonded with you."

"Bonded?" the skepticism in Astrid's voice was only emphasized by the eyebrow that suddenly hiked up towards her hairline.

"Oh Gods, how to explain this" he nervously ran a hand through his hair as he wondered how to phrase this. From the corner of his eye he saw Toothless and the Nadder still playing in a darkened corner of the cove, Toothless slinking from one shadow to the next while the Nadder used her light footed bird like movements to hop from one rock to the next. "Hmm ok, you know how when birds hatch they imprint on the first thing they see and start following it around like it's their mother?"

"Do I look like a dragon's mother to you!?" Astrid snapped indignantly.

"N-no…no, no that's not what I'm trying to say, what I mean is, well dragons are really loyal creatures and once you earn their trust…" he held out his hand gesturing towards Toothless at which point the Night Fury decided to bound to his riders side nudging Hiccups splayed palm with his snout as he closed his eyes. "…Heh, there's nothing they won't do for you."

For a moment Astrid simply watched the pair, seeing how Toothless curled himself protectively around Hiccup, how the legendary dragon that had inspired so much fear acted like an overgrown kitten as he lay on his back nudging at his riders hand asking to be scratched. She then looked over to the Nadder; the dragon was staring at her, its head tilted to the side with one great yellow eye fixed on her but it did not move to approach, or pounce on her as it had before, this time it merely gazed at her with a look that almost seemed rejected. The lance of regret that flared through Astrid's chest when she saw that look surprised her, yes she had helped to free the poor creature and she would even go as far as to say that after last night she had become slightly (very slightly) enamored with it, but the fact remained that this was the same dragon not even three days ago she had been trying to kill.

Hesitantly, almost guiltily Astrid slowly raised her hand towards the Nadder similar to the way she had just seen Hiccup do to Toothless, the result was immediate. Slowly but without hesitance or fear the Nadder walked to her crouched form and ever so gently placed her snout against Astrid's outstretched palm. Astrid felt an overwhelming sense of awe wash over her, the fact that the Nadder could so easily trust her after all she had done to her was incomprehensible to Astrid, how could the Nadder forgive her so readily?

A disgruntled trill and a heavy nudge at her still outstretched hand brought a smirk to Astrid's lips as she happily obliged the dragon with a scratch beneath its chin.

From the corner of her eye she could see that an overly self-satisfied grin had made its way onto Hiccup's face and right now she really wasn't in the mood for that…

"Hiccup" she said his name in the coyest voice she could manage.

"Yeah Astrid?" he sounded unsure, she had never spoken to him like this, Hel she had never spoken to any boy like this.

"The fish is burning."

"…"

"What?" for a moment he looked completely confused but then "Oh jeez!" he grabbed for the fish trying to save them before they truly turned to charcoal.

She couldn't help it; at the sight of Hiccup desperately trying to salvage the fish from the fire, grabbing the first only to drop it as he singed his fingers and then pointlessly blowing on the second to try and curb the flames that had begun to eat away at it, Astrid burst out laughing. Not the quiet chuckle that she normally allows to escape past her ever fierce persona but a genuine deep belly laugh that she just can't seem to suppress.

"Yeah, ha hah, laugh it up…I hope you realize that one of these is yours" he says as he places both moderately burnt fish to the side to cool.

"I think I'll pass" just as the words left her mouth her stomach rumbled, loudly.

"…"

Before he could say anything, which of course he would, Astrid snatched the slightly less burnt fish that had been laid out sending him a withering glare "shut up."

A few minutes passed in silence, she could barely taste the fish as she wolfed it down, all the while she used her free hand to scratch the Nadder that now has its head resting in her lap; running her fingers over the smooth interlocked scales, only feeling the roughness a dragons skin is famed for when she runs her hand counter to the direction the scales grow. Her eyes were drawn in by the beautiful deep blue colour that predominates the Nadder's skin, a blue so like the colour of the darkening sky she had seen that day she had practically been kidnapped by Hiccup and Toothless. She could clearly remember the feeling of exhilaration and freedom that had come with flying (after Toothless had stopped trying to dislodge her) how the world had seemed to open up beneath her as they had descended through the clouds. Everything had looked so small from the back of a dragon and it had brought a sense of peace that Astrid had never felt before.

She wanted to experience that again.

Her eyes strayed up focusing on the saddle that lay resting against a wall next to Hiccup's pack.

"Can you teach me?"

Her sudden and seemingly random question broke the quiet that had settled over the cove while they ate.

Hiccup looked up at her with questioning eyes clearly not knowing what she was asking him for.

"How to fly." She clarified.

She expected him to look shocked or hesitant, she wouldn't blame him for either reaction; she had only just recently recognised dragons for the amazing creatures they were and both times she had flown weren't exactly by choice. She was prepared for him to say no, to make an excuse and say she wasn't ready yet; she was not prepared for him to stand up and walk away from her.

"Hiccup I-" her eyes were glued to his back as he grew further away from her but she couldn't read his posture. He stopped by his bags quickly rummaging through them until he found what he was looking for, she couldn't see what he held due to the shadows but he was making his way back to her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Hiccup?"

"If we're going to do this…" a genuine smile swept across his features washing away every single one of her frivolous insecurities "…then you're going to need something to hold onto."

* * *

**AN: **Reviews are always appreciated, anyway the next chapter is more than half done and should actually be up soon...very surprising given my usual update speed XP.


	4. Flight

**AN: Thank you everyone who favorited, followed and review, you guys made my day. This is the last chapter before the time skip, so let me know what you guys think of the story so far or if there's anything I can improve.**

**Thanks again XD.**

* * *

Flight

It was better than she remembered and colder…actually a hell of a lot colder, but she didn't care, all she cared about right now was the thrill that came with flight. She hadn't realised how much of a difference flying by herself would make; with Hiccup sitting before her there had been an unspoken sense of security, even with Toothless' unsubtle initial attempts to throw her to her death (which had included but had not been limited to: barrel rolls, free falling, heart stopping dives and a series of lovely spins which left her questioning where the sky ended and the earth began) Hiccup had not allowed her to fall. The death grip she had on the saddle and then Hiccup may have had a lot to do with that, but still she hadn't fallen. With only a rope slung round the Nadder's chest to hold onto all thoughts of safety had fled, should she slip there was no one there to catch her and still she didn't care.

The cool night air whipped through her hair as the Nadder swept forward into a dive, levelling out gently inches above the cresting waves of the open sea below them. Looking over her shoulder she could see Toothless and Hiccup gliding languidly above, not even having to try to keep up, from this angle it was easy to see that Toothless was watching her. She couldn't help but notice the decidedly bored look that he was giving her; as though all she and the Nadder were doing by being there was forcing him to go slow whereas by now; had he and Hiccup been alone they would most likely be pulling off some sort of death defying trick that laughed in the face of the very idea of Hiccup falling to his death.

She couldn't have that.

"Hey girl" she got the Nadder's attention by lightly patting her neck "ready for some fun?"

That was all the encouragement the Nadder needed.

With three powerful wing beats the Nadder vaulted back into the open sky kicking up a spray of freezing sea water behind her. Fifty feet then one hundred, the sea shrank beneath them as they rose into the air, she looked back once more to see both Hiccup and Toothless giving them a questioning look; the challenging smirk that spread across her face was all the warning she gave them.

"GO!" at her shout the Nadder folded her wings and plummeted head first towards the sea, Astrid pressed herself down against the Nadder's back gripping tightly with her knees as she held onto the rope for dear life. All of a sudden the Nadder unfurled her wings, catching the air and soaring back into the starlit sky, from the corner of her eye Astrid caught a brief glimpse of a black blur shooting past her inches from the Nadder's left wing.

Toothless was faster than the Nadder, there was no arguing that; It had taken the Night Fury mere seconds to catch up with them, but what about his agility?

Quickly as Hiccup and Toothless recovered from where they'd overshot her position, Astrid searched the skyline before her. "There!" she pointed so the Nadder would see; to an almost maze like structure of sea stacks, with overhanging ledges and towering jagged spires that jutted out from the ocean not five hundred yards away. With an enthused trill the Nadder drove forwards, delivering increasingly powerful strokes with her wings in an effort to beat Toothless to the structure; when they got close the dragon folded her wings once more as she seamlessly darted between a pair of monolithic stone towers, her long talons clipping against the side of the cliff to her right as she extended her right wing pulling off a near ninety degree turn. Once again Astrid caught the flash of black scales as Toothless swept past her, she could hear his indignant yelp echoing off the surrounding cliffs but he and Hiccup were soon swept away out of sight as the Nadder smoothly navigated the narrow pathways and looming pillars that made up the stone labyrinth of sea stacks.

Minutes passed by in seconds as Astrid leaned forward pressing herself against the Nadder's back; leaning into each turn as it came, anticipating the next one as she felt the rush that came with feeling weightless. They were almost clear of the stony spires, almost back into open air with nothing beneath them but the white caped waves of the open ocean that seemed to stretch before her to the very edge of the world. She looked back, sitting up and relaxing her grip on the rope, she was hoping to see a rather disgruntled Night Fury and his rider coming up behind her but they were still nowhere in sight. Turning forward once more Astrid let out a cry of exhilaration, revelling in the small victory she and the Nadder had won over the Night Fury; said Nadder gave a high pitch trill as they neared the final sea stack, slowing just as she came level with the last rocky outcrop. Confused Astrid leaned forward; letting go of the rope with one hand, resting it against the Nadder's neck in order to lean further forward, "What's up girl? Come on we're almost there." She had to shout to hear her own voice over the howling wind that rushed through her ears but she was sure that the Nadder heard her when she gave a sharp shake of her head.

With a sudden jerk the Nadder stopped; her wings beating rapidly either side of Astrid as she hovered in the shadow of the maze. Astrid had to fight not to fall, her hands scrambled for the rope, clinging to it desperately as she tried to regain her balance. Finally managing to sit up straight Astrid struggled to get the Nadder's attention "hey what's wrong? Come on girl." She gently patted the Nadder's neck trying to get the dragon to look at her; it was only as she ran her fingers along the smooth scales that she noticed the dragon was trembling.

"Hey it's alright shh, it's ok." She continued to run her hand comfortingly along the Nadder's scales in an attempt to calm her but the Nadder didn't even register her touch. Nervous high pitched chirrups emanated from the dragon at an ever increasing frequency, she had started to manoeuvre back into the darkened corridors of the looming rocky pillars, the spikes on her tail were raised and ready to fire.

Something was definitely wrong; so very, very wrong.

It was only now; as she looked around nervously trying to see what had worked her dragon (yes, her dragon) into such a state, that she noticed the unbroken wall of mist steadily encroaching on them from below; had they continued forward they would have flown straight into it. Her eyes widened in shock; even with the powerful down draft created by the Nadder's wings the fog swiftly rose, filling every crevice and blocking everything below from sight. The once loud roar of crashing waves and ravaging winds had been muted to an eerie almost silence which unnerved Astrid to a far greater degree than the sudden lack of visibility. In this suddenly changed environment she felt lost and vulnerable in a way that sent a cold shiver of fear racing down her spine; she was suffocating, she needed out, she needed clear skies and the freedom of the open air, she needed not to feel trapped.

"Up, I need you to fly up!" the statement escaped her as a chocked whisper, barely audible above the rhythmic beat of the dragon's wings; but the Nadder didn't need to be told twice. In an instant they were rising, slowly at first, as if the fog below them that was beginning to curl around the dragons drawn talons was weighing them down; but they gained speed with each wing beat, the Nadder dragging herself out of the claustrophobic depths of the maze that had become a prison.

They were so close to the top; the narrow paths finally gave way to open air and Astrid was once more able to see the clear night sky, but still the mist followed spilling from the rocky crevices like an unstoppable wave. Dread filled Astrid, the Nadder had taken to once more hovering just above the reach of the unnatural fog, her head tilting this way and that as though she was trying to listen for something. Even free of the cloying mist the unnerving silence still surrounded them, the low series of clicks that her Nadder had begun to emit from deep within her throat brought little comfort to Astrid.

"Hiccup!" she called out her friends name to the ever darkening sky desperate to see the flash of black scales that had followed them into the labyrinth of stone, but there was no sign of them, they were alone.

As the last echo of her cry died in the darkened skies light from below caught Astrid's eye and she found herself staring at a patch of swirling fog beneath her that seemed to glow. The light was wane at first, small and barely distinguishable from the mass of fog around it; but the light soon grew in intensity and size, a deep red colour penetrated the coiling mist holding both the Nadder's and Astrid's gaze. It was only as a low rumble began to permeate the air that Astrid realised what the light was; what the ever growing pool of sinister red light meant.

"Move!" her warning came just as the blast of fire breached the sea of mist, the Nadder barely managed to manoeuvre out of the way as the pillar of flame tore into the sky searing the air around it. Waves of heat washed over Astrid as the Nadder flew clear of the column of fire, even though she shielded her face from the blaze Astrid was still blinded by the sudden eruption of the intense flames. She felt the Nadder begin to flee, her wings folding in against her sides once more as she plunged through the air doing everything she could to escape the area with her rider as quickly as she could.

What had once been an eerie silence that clung to the air was shattered as growls chorused into the cold night sky; dragon after dragon emerged from the mist that now surrounded them on all sides, the sound of hardened scales and claws scraping against rock reached the rider and Nadder as the horde of concealed dragons leapt from their stone perches to give chase.

Squinting as her watering eyes adjusted once more to the darkened night skies, Astrid tried to focus on the blurred shadows of the dragons that flew just below the cover of mist beneath her and the Nadder. Another shot of fire rushed towards them; unlike the first blast this one was smaller and resembled a meteorite more than a column of fire, dodging it she looked back just in time to see a club like tail; that could only have belonged to a Gronckle slip back beneath the layers of fog.

The Nadder gave a shrill cry as her path ahead was suddenly cut off; a Monstrous Nightmare clad in an armour of flames ripped itself free from where it had been clinging to a towering obelisk of sea beaten stone, to unleash a flood of flames upon the fleeing Nadder as it lunged. Its maw agape as though it sought to wrench Astrid from the Nadder's back and swallow her whole. She knew this was her end; with the Monstrous Nightmare charging from the front and with the rest of the dragon host circling both beneath and now above her, there was very little hope of escape.

She braced herself and hoped for a quick end; she only prayed that when the dragons were done with her they would allow the Nadder to go free.

Time slowed to all but a crawl as the fire closed in on her; it was as though the Gods were giving her a chance to memorize every detail of her death. The heavy burn of sulphur in her nose, the choking smoke filling her lungs; stealing away her last breath as the torrent of flames grew ever closer, burning her skin even before it touched her.

She didn't hear the tell-tale whistle, she didn't see the black silhouette slipping seamlessly through the fog easily cutting a path straight towards her. Nor did she see that horde of dragons scatter as they sought to escape.

All Astrid could see was the wall of bright orange flames that had promised her death suddenly being overcome by a wave of blue fire so fierce it easily extinguished the blaze and went on to hit the raging Nightmare in the chest. She watched as the dragon that would have claimed her life fell from the air, down into the folds of fog and quickly out of sight.

"Astrid!"

The sudden call of her name caused Astrid to look up so quickly she would swear she heard her neck crack.

Hiccup and Toothless hovered just above her; Hiccup looking down at her with green eyes filled only with concern, meanwhile Toothless kept his eyes trained on the dragon swarm that for the moment had wisely chosen to retreat.

"Astrid!"

She blinked dazedly only now realising that her shock had paralysed her.

"Hicc-"

"We need to go!" now that he was sure he had her attention his voice was gentler, but still commanding "Now!" Afraid that her voice would crack if she answered all she could do was nod numbly; with that Toothless took off.

The Nadder didn't hesitate to follow.

Once more she flew upwards but this time her escape went unchallenged. Ahead of her Hiccup and Toothless carved a clear path for the Nadder to follow; she could see Hiccup constantly checking over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't fallen behind.

A rush of clean air filled her lungs as they breached the final layer of fog and with it came a wave of relief so strong it nearly stole her breath.

She looked back, just to reassure herself that they weren't being followed and that's when she saw it. Where once had stood an imposing mountain which served as the Red Death's lair now laid what could only be described as a crater; steep cliffs that had loomed far above Astrid's head, even on the back of a dragon were replaced with a crumbled ruin. Fog seeped from every crack and fissure that lined the rocky surface and at its center rested a pit that radiated the same malevolent light that had dominated the nest. From above, Astrid could only compare what she was seeing to a maelstrom; cloud and fog mixed together as they were drawn toward the center of the pit, a pit which she could now see was sealed. Layer upon layer of rubble had melted and fused together over the gaping maw of the abyss leaving only a small opening directly at its center, steam and smoke poured from the entrance making it impossible to see what might have been lurking beneath the layers of shifting half molten rock, but she could still hear the eerie high pitched yet at the same time low toned call that raised the hair on the back of her neck.

Turning forward Astrid focused on Hiccup's back as her Nadder continued to follow Toothless in their swift retreat, the thought of looking back did not cross her mind again.

* * *

"What! In Odin's name was that?!" Astrid was breathless as she dismounted the Nadder, her throat was dry and she could hear her own heart hammering in her ears but she forced her voice to be strong; even as her legs gave out underneath her as she landed on the ground. In the next second surprisingly strong hands were grasping her shoulders, steadying her.

"Astrid, are you okay?" Almost pitifully she tried to shrug off his hold but when his grip only tightened she gave up, unintentionally she found herself leaning forward; resting her forehead against his shoulder and she tried to get her breathing back under control.

She felt Hiccup stiffen at her action, as if he was unsure of how he was supposed to react, but just before the situation could become awkward she felt his arms slowly curl around her and his chin lightly rest atop her head. Taking deep breathes she managed to calm herself; she would never admit it out loud, but the warm scent of burnt pine and the steady thump of a strong heartbeat that came from her closeness to Hiccup helped.

"I'm sorry Astrid…I should have warned you, I-I didn't think" his words were whispered but even then he still tripped over his own words. Astrid didn't know whether she wanted to laugh or punch him, so she just remained quiet.

After a moment she slowly (reluctantly) drew back, she kept her eyes focused on the ground; trying to buy time to will away the heat pooling in her cheeks that was starting to feel suspiciously like a blush (it was wind burn, not a blush…definitely not a blush). Feeling her pull back this time Hiccup quickly let her go, stumbling back and nervously running his hand through his hair as he looked at the sky, the ground, the sea cliffs, Toothless; anything but Astrid. A small anxious "S-sorry" was all he managed to stutter out before he fell silent.

Calm and with only the quiet sound of the sea breeze and the distant waves below to interrupt her Astrid asked her question again; "…what was that?"

Weariness swept across Hiccup's features, his normally bright eyes dimming slightly as he contemplated how to answer her question, "that's what's left of the Dragon's nest."

Astrid was silent; the only reaction was the slight widening of her eyes that betrayed her shock. One small dragon and a boy had done that; reduced a towering megalith to that…a smoking crater of steam and molten rock. It was still an impressive and harrowing sight; surrounded by the unsettling fog that seeped from the bowels of the crumbling structure, it was what Astrid imagined the gates of Hel would look like; but no longer was the mountain the fortress it had once been, now; it was a prison. However the Red Death had proven she still had strength; the pack of Dragons she still had enthralled was proof of that.

"I didn't want you to have to see that." Hiccup said as he shook his head in despair.

"Why?" Astrid's question would have almost sounded indignant if her voice wasn't so rough.

"Why? You're seriously asking that after nearly being swallowed whole by a Monstrous Nightmare?" he sounded incredulous.

"No that's not- I mean had I known…ugh why didn't you tell me?" At the disbelieving look he shot her she started to back track. "I mean yes you told me she was still alive and that she was calling some of the dragons back to her but you also said you dropped a mountain on top of it!" she was about to set off into a full tirade but then she suddenly stopped herself as she realised what Hiccup was trying to do. "Don't try to distract me to avoid the question! Why didn't you want me to see the nest?"

He turned away from her and when he spoke it was a whisper that was carried away on a soft breeze before she had a chance to catch what he had said.

She started to walk towards him, taking cautious steps but she stopped when she was close enough to hear the quiet mumble that escaped him.

"Because I failed."

He stared at the ground and gripped his hands into fists so tightly that even in the dark Astrid could see his knuckles turn white; even so when he spoke his voice was still controlled and quiet. "I've failed Astrid… I disgraced my fathers' name and now I can never show my face in the village again, not without the first Viking I meet probably wanting to slay me because they think I'm possessed or, or some kind of demon child sired by Loki." Astrid flinched at that comment but luckily Hiccup had not been looking at her when he spoke. "I barely managed to imprison that monster of a dragon and yet still she's managing to control so many of the other dragon's, forcing them to attack anything that comes close to her lair; she's probably going to send them to raid the village again." With each word spoken Hiccup only seemed to grow more and more frustrated, his nervous habit of using wide arm movements to express himself had grown more pronounced; to the point where Toothless: who had been standing behind his rider had to duck in order to avoid being hit. "I thought if I was able to show the village, to prove to them that dragon's weren't the mindless beasts we were raised to hate, that I-I'd be able to stop the endless cycle of killing; but I can't and in the end I've ended up changing nothing!" He sighed at his last comment and shook his head as he laughed mirthlessly. "Actually I might have made it worse." As the last self-deprecating words left his riders' mouth, Toothless brought his head to brush against the boys' still tightly clenched fist. At the contact Hiccup seemed to relax slightly, allowing his feature's to ease into a halfway decent smile as he thanked his friend with a light scratch along his scales, but the guilt and self-doubt still rested heavily on his young shoulder.

Seeing the two interact; seeing the bond that had formed between them, Astrid could not bring herself to believe a single word Hiccup had just spoken, but simply arguing and shouting at him was never going to get through to him. He was far too stubborn for that.

"You're right. It's a mess, the whole tribe hates you and your father hasn't shown his face since that day in the arena." Her words were spoken softly and yet she saw Hiccup flinch as though she had struck him.

"Thank you for summing that up." His usual sarcastic edge was so weighed down that it sounded forced.

She could see she was hurting him but she had to continue; she needed to push him.

"I mean in 300 year's not a single Viking has had a second thought about killing a dragon. Your own Father is a legend in our village and all you ever used to talk about was making your own mark by slaying a dragon, but when you finally manage to catch one you don't have the guts to finish it…You would have been the first Viking in History to slay a Night Fury and yet you chose to throw that once in a life time chance away!" By this point Toothless was looking at her with unveiled hostility and annoyance but Hiccup was still avoiding her gaze. "The rest of us would have done it, no questions asked…without any hesitation...so why didn't you?"

He didn't answer, didn't even look at her so she asked again "why didn't you?"

"…I don't know…I-I couldn't." He was mumbling again but this time it held none of his nervous shyness, it just sounded defeated.

"That's not an answer."

"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?!" He was finally looking at her again; anger and annoyance clearly shining in his eyes, but all too soon he turned his back on her again.

She had to keep going.

Leaning forward she tried to capture his gaze. "Because I want to remember what you say; right now."

"Oh For the love of-!"

He had finally snapped.

"I was a coward! I was weak! I WOULDN'T KILL A DRAGON!"

Seeing her opening she pounced. "You said wouldn't that time."

"Oh you- whatever!" sighing he tried to reign in some of his anger. "I wouldn't! 300 years and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon." He turned away, for all the world looking as though he was too ashamed to face her.

"First to ride one though."

"So…?"

He kept his eyes on Toothless but Astrid saw the look of contemplation that was etched into his features as he idly ran his fingers along his friends' scaly jaw.

"I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was…"

At this Toothless gave an indignant huff and took a swipe at Hiccup which he surprisingly managed to dodge but almost predictably he ended up tripping over Toothless' tail as he stepped back. As Hiccup rubbed the sore spot on his back Toothless gave the dragon equivalent of a laugh; Hiccup got the message.

"Okay maybe not as scared…"

"…but I looked at him and I saw myself."

Seemingly mollified Toothless gave an approving warble and nodded before settling once more down beside his rider. Hiccup kneeled down and rested his hand upon the dark scales on the back of the Night Fury's neck; seemingly taking comfort from the contact.

"It's just…I need to think this through." With those words he looked out towards the horizon, his eyes focused on the general direction of the dragon's nest.

Wanting to give him some space Astrid walked back over to the recovering Nadder; the dragon had collapsed where she had landed, her wings spread out wide, her tail curled tightly around her and her eyes closed. She looked as though she were asleep but as Astrid approached she noticed one eye lazily creep open and the wing closest to her slowly retract exposing the Nadder's soft underbelly. Taking this as an invitation Astrid sat and rested against the warm scales of the Nadder's chest; relaxing as she felt the slow rhythmic breathing of her dragon on her back.

Comfortable she took a moment to see where they had landed. They had alighted on one of the many small grassy islands that lay just off the shores of Berks Mainland; soft grass spread out beneath her feet, only ending when the land suddenly gave way to sea. In the summer (short as it was this close to Freezing to Death) farmers would sail their flocks out to some of the larger isles in order to let their sheep graze on the sweet grass that covered them; though the practice had its rewards it was one of the biggest gambles any Viking could take. High up and with little vegetation besides the grass that grew there the islands were exposed, making easy pickings for hungry dragons. On more than one occasion entire flocks were seen to be carried off in broad daylight. Astrid couldn't suppress the chuckle that came when she remembered the time last year Gobber ended up having an unscheduled bath when he tried and failed to save a prized ewe from the grasp of a determined Zippleback. He had lost his grip a mile out to sea and ended up having to be saved by one of the fishing boats; unceremoniously being hauled in on one of the fisherman's nets and nearly being thrown back in when the fisherman thought he had caught some type of sea troll.

"What's funny?" Hiccup's question pulled Astrid from her musing's, apparently her snigger had been loud enough to cut through the silence that had formed between them. Hiccup looked up from where he had begun fiddling with a stray strap on Toothless' saddle and gave her an inquiring smirk that only looked half forced.

"Nothing!" the word was automatic, escaping her before she even registered it as a thought; so it was only when she heard herself speak it that she realized what a pointless response it was.

At their continued stares she relented. "I was just remembering how Gobber got taken for a ride last year."

"Huh?" Ever his intelligent response when he didn't understand something.

"The time he tried to save that ewe from the Zippleback." She explained.

Understanding flitted across his features and he let out a laugh probably remembering the sight of Gobber clinging to the sheep for dear life as he cursed the Zippleback to the deepest circles of Hel.

"Ha-Oh God's please don't remind me of that," he gave a shudder "after his impromptu swim when the time came for his yearly bath he refused, said that his dip in the ocean covered it for that year."

Astrid found herself laughing again "I remember that now; didn't it take the Chief, Spitelout, Phlegma and a few others working together to wrestle him into the trough to actually get him to take it?"

He laughed with her unable to stop "yep, it's not a day my uncle likes to recall; he nearly ended up in the village well when Gobber tried to throw him off."

"Heh like Father like son" Astrid said under her breath as she tried to get her laughter under control.

After a few minutes they both managed to get themselves back under control and Astrid was glad to see some of the darkness that had been clinging to Hiccup lessen but it soon returned.

"I really can't go back, can I?" The question was rhetorical and there was nothing Astrid could say to counter it.

They fell into silence once more, simply staring out to sea and listening to the waves below.

Some time later they could see the first rays of sunlight begin to creep over the horizon; turning the once black star studded sky a shade of dark blue.

"I should get going, I can't run the risk of someone spotting me and Toothless and you need to get back to the village before anyone notices you're gone." Hiccup said as he rose from his seated position beside Toothless.

"Where will you go?" Astrid asked as she made to stand as well her eyes still on the brightening horizon.

"East I think…I saw a lot of the dragons flying off in that direction; I want to see where they're heading, you know make sure they're not gonna turn back and get enthralled again." He gave a small shrug as if to say that he was still working out the details.

"Hey…maybe you could…" abruptly he cut his words off, but he didn't need to finish his question; she knew what he had wanted to ask.

Looking back Astrid could just make out the darkened outline of Raven's Point and far behind it the soft glow of firelight given off by the torches of Berk.

She remembered everything that had happened toda-yesterday now; how it had just been one annoying event after the other, another mess for her to clean up, another chore for her to do or another lecture for her to listen to…

But then she remembered her parents: the Hofferson family name had already been dragged through the mud, it held a shadow of its former standing within the village, all because of her uncle's cowardice…were she to leave; to turn her back on her family now there would be no hope of redemption and wasn't that what she had been working towards; ever since that day ten years ago…the day her uncle: the Fearless Fin Hofferson, was frozen by fear.

She had to go back.

She wanted to go with them…but she couldn't.

"…"

Seeing her answer before she even gave it Hiccup mounted Toothless and secured the final strap.

"So I guess this is goodbye" she forced herself to look him dead in the eye as she spoke the words. This was going to be the last time she saw him; she would not have his last memory of her being a withdrawn girl unwilling to meet his gaze, that was not who Astrid Hofferson was.

"For now at least."

It took a moment for her to process what he had just said. "You're coming back?"

With a nonchalant shrug he answered "why not, I need to keep an eye on the Red Death and the coves still safe, it's where I assume your Nadder will be staying." At her staggered look he elaborated "what I can't take her with me and there's no way she's leaving you now." As if to affirm this statement the Nadder came up behind Astrid and gently nudged her back.

Feeling surprisingly light Astrid mounted the Nadder "I'll race you back to the cove" she was about to race off when Hiccup called out to her.

"Wait! You still haven't told me what you decided to name your dragon!"

She paused but only for a moment.

"Stormfly."

Hiccup nodded and then smirked as he had Toothless launch forward racing towards the cove.

"YOU CHEAT!" with that shout Astrid urged Stormfly to take flight, they tore after the Night Fury hoping to close some of the distance that the Dragon and his rider had gained with their ill begotten few seconds head start. By the end of the race they had closed the gap just enough to hear both Hiccup and Toothless laughing and she couldn't help but join them.


	5. Decisions

Sorry for the delay and thanks to all those that decided to Fav, Follow and review, you guys are the best.

Decisions

Stoick

It had been three days, only three days, but for Stoick it had felt like an eternity. He had felt every hour of those days slip passed with an agonising slowness, in those three days he had barely slept or eaten as again and again he paced the empty rooms of his house, the hollow echo of his footsteps ringing throughout the abandoned rooms of his home. Stoick was a shadow of his former self; his face was gaunt, his beard and hair unkempt, deep shadows rested beneath his bloodshot eyes and a general atmosphere of exhaustion now dogged his every step, but still he refused to rest.

He had only left the house once, with great reluctance; at the time he had been combing through the Book of Dragons which he had taken from the Meade Hall, looking for answers that he knew he would not find within its pages. He had been dragged from his enduring staring contest with the page that spoke of what little Viking's knew of the Night Fury when a sudden cry of panic rang from the village followed a few seconds later by the baritone scream of the dragon alarm. On instinct more than anything else he pulled himself from his chair by the dying embers of the hearth and grabbed the first weapon that came to hand, a war hammer, before barrelling through the front door. Instantly his eyes went to the night sky searching for the devils that sought to destroy his village, a part of him relishing the chance to unleash his wrath upon the winged demons, but only darkness met his eyes as he stared up at the clear expanse of the open sky above him. There was nothing, not even a Terrible Terror flew through the star speckled skies this night; confused he began to look for what had caused the previously quiet night to erupt in chaos. He didn't have to look far.

Small fires (well small when compared to the infernos a horde of fire breathing beasts could unleash) were slowly beginning to spread throughout the village and Vikings ran here and there not knowing what to do. Some, like Stoick, had just emerged from their homes carrying all manner of weapons ready to fight even as they rubbed sleep from their eyes or clambered through their front doors half dressed. Others rushed to grab water buckets in order to douse the growing pyres; the largest of which seemed to be fuelled by valuable supplies meant for repairs. One of the braziers had been lit and raised but the others remained dark, their precious fuel and kindling not being wasted.

As Stoick continued to stare a figure broke apart from the growing mass of villager's gathering in the main square and started to make its way up the hill towards him. As he grew closer Stoick could see it was Spitelout, his height and lack of beard making him easy to distinguish even in the dark.

"What's going on here?" even with the noise of the crowd and the load crackle of flames Stoick's voice easily carried over the village silencing many.

Spitelout stopped before him and took a moment to regain his breath; coughing slightly from the smoke that hung in the air. "From what I can tell it was a false alarm, the lads on watch heard a scream and saw the fires so they raised the alarm but…" he waved one of his great meaty hands over the village and Stoick could see for himself that there was no danger; already the fires were being brought under control, although in the distance he could make out the Thorston twins up to their usual antics, revelling in the chaos and hoping to create more.

With a sigh he turned away; he didn't have time to sort out this mess, "take care of this Spitelout" Stoick's tone was dismissive and final, he didn't even look back to see if Spitelout had carried out his order, he simply trudged back up the hill towards his home. His empty, dark and lifeless home.

He had just opened his door and was about to go inside when he heard a set of uneven footsteps running up behind him.

"Stoick!" Gobber wheezed as he reached his friend, even slightly out of breath the smith sounded concerned.

Stoick didn't turn back, didn't even acknowledge he had heard Gobber call his name, he simply went inside and slammed the heavy door shut with a final and resounding thud.

…

No one disturbed him for the rest of the night and when dawn finally broke he passed the morning in much the same manner as the night before, switching between roaming the empty rooms of his once warm home and tearing through the pages of the Book of Dragons; grabbing a few minutes sleep here and there when his eyes could no longer remain open. It was during one of these exhaustion driven naps that a knock came from the front door; shooting up from where his head had been resting on an open page Stoick stumbled as his neck cricked from the awkward position he had been sleeping in. Another knock came, louder this time, but Stoick ignored it choosing instead to focus on the table in front of him which was piled high with an assortment of maps, sea charts, report's on dragon sightings and at the centre of it all the Book of Dragons.

The knocking soon stopped and silence returned allowing Stoick to contemplate once more in peace all the horror that had befallen him that day in the arena, but not for long. The knocking returned; louder, stronger, more determined and endless.

After three minutes of listening to nothing but the incessant pounding on his front door Stoick finally gave in; he couldn't think with all this noise. With a snarl he rose from his chair with such a force that its legs screamed against the hard wood of the floor before the heavy ornate back tipped and crashed to the floor. In three strides he made it to the door and wrenched it open so fast that he was surprised he didn't rip it from its frame. The Viking on the other side was surprised as well; he was between knocks when Stoick opened the door and the sudden absence of the hard surface to bang his fist against caused the blond, grubby, one armed Viking to topple inside.

Gobber barely managed to dig his hook hand into the door frame and brace his hand against the floor in time to catch himself, with a grunt he quickly stood and tried to act like that hadn't just happened. Stoick did the same.

"What is it Gobber?" Stoick got straight to the point, his tone gruff and sharp clearly showing his irritation, but also his weariness.

"Nice to see you too Stoick" Gobber quipped and Stoick nearly groaned; he never had to wonder where Hiccup picked up his sarcasm. "We need to talk."

Stoick glared at the Smith; apparently slamming the door in his face last night had not been as clear a message as he had thought. "Not now Gobber." The words came out as a growl and Stoick was about to punctuate his statement with another slammed door when Gobber spoke.

"The arena is empty." He didn't say it loudly but for the effect it had Gobber may as well have shouted the words.

His only reaction to this news was a hoarsely whispered "what?"

Taking advantage of his sudden shock Gobber somehow managed to slip past the threshold, close the door and take a seat by the cold hearth; it was obvious the smith didn't plan on this being a short conversation.

After giving his surroundings a cursory look Gobber faced Stoick once more "I love what you've done with the place" more sarcasm, the irritation that rose from the comment was enough to snap Stoick out of his shock.

In a much stronger, steadier voice than before he asked "What do you mean the arena is empty?"

Gobber shrugged "exactly what I said; the arena is empty. The dragons are gone."

"How?!" so much anger bled through that one word but Gobber remained unfazed as he watched Stoick begin to pace, dragging his hand down his face trying to reign in his emotions.

When Stoick finally took his seat opposite his friend, Gobber spoke "I checked the cage doors, all of them…there was no damage, none of the hinges or lock systems have been melted or broken like you usually see when one of the beasts manage to break free." He paused, a look of regret hanging over him; telling Stoick that his friend did not wish to speak the next words, but he did. "It looks like someone set them free."

Silence hung between the two old friends and like the quiet before the storm there was no comfort to be drawn from its depths.

Like a thunder clap Stoick exploded; with a great roar he flipped the table against the far wall as though it was nothing more than a fragile leaf caught in the furious gale of a storm conjured by the wrath of Thor himself. Maps and other precious items were scattered about the room leaving it in chaos, the candle; which had been one of the few sources of light besides the weak sunlight that was barely able to filter through the closed shutters, was crushed beneath the heavy wood of the oak table plunging the room into semi darkness. "How can this be!? My own blood, my own so-"

Seeing the direction of his thoughts Gobber jumped in "we can't know for sure it was Hiccu-"

"Do not speak his name!...Who else would have done this?!"

Gobber took a step back and even in the gloom Stoick could see the look of pain flashing in the smiths' eyes but he soon controlled it and moved to say something else; Stoick refused to hear it.

"Who else knows about this?" Stoick managed to grit out before Gobber could say anything.

Looking resigned but not deterred Gobber answered. "It was Fishlegs that came and told me, he saw from the cliff path above the arena that the main gate and the cage doors were wide open. The lad was as hysterical as a ram that had just been caught between a Flightmare and a Monstrous Nightmare, he only stopped running when he barrelled right into me. When I got to the arena myself I noticed that Astrid had followed, so I told the two to close the gates and to keep their yaps shut; they're the only two that know."

Some of the tension bled away from Stoick's shoulders but it did little if anything to relax the strained atmosphere of the room. "Good, this situation can still be controlled; we can't have the rest of the village finding out about this, not after everything else that has happened." For a moment he paused and that was his mistake; for it gave Gobber the chance to circle back to the previously lost thread of conversation.

"By the looks of it it's most likely the beasts were set loose at some point during the night; had it happened during the day someone would a seen them flying off…If it were Hiccup-"

"There is no 'IF' about it" Stoick snapped; his temper held by a thread, but it was fraying.

"Fine!" Gobber snapped straight back "let's say for the moment it was Hiccup, that also means he didn't let the dragons attack the village."

"What?" Stoick was slightly thrown by the sudden direction their talk had taken; Gobber saw it and he pushed on, pressing his advantage.

"You weren't there for most of the training. You never saw how he commanded the beasts; one day he would have a Gronckle practically comatose as soon as the damn thing got within 3 feet of him, the next he would have the Zippleback refusing to even come out of its cage and face him."

"Your point?" Stoick honestly had no idea where Gobber was trying to go with this.

"My point is, had those lizards got out of their cages on their own they would of headed straight for the village. We've seen it before, they'd have ripped right through the centre of the village and gone on a rampage before taking off or being taken down, but they didn't…" He let his statement hang in the air for a moment.

"…maybe he's found something. A way of controlling the dragons..."

Gobber didn't know; no one living knew that these words were the last that should ever be spoken in front of Stoick the Vast.

The moment he heard them he couldn't do anything to stop the images playing before his eyes. The darkened walls of his house faded away to be replaced by shadowed Demon's clad in metal armour that was almost melded to their scales. Fires burning so bright and hot they melted stone as the roof and walls came down around him crushing men like ants and amidst the smoke, donning a cloak of dragon skin a mad man stood tall; laughing at the carnage.

"Get out!"

For a moment Gobber froze, taken aback by the suddenly reignited anger in Stoick's tone, but then the stubborn set came to his jaw like it always did when he was preparing for an argument. "Stoick-"

"GET OUT!" The roar echoed off the empty walls of the room and was followed by the sound of breaking wood as Stoick slammed his fist into a support beam, cracking the carved wood and drawing blood as the splinters dug into his clenched fist.

Reluctantly Gobber left, but before the door closed behind him he managed to leave Stoick with one last thing to think about.

"No matter what he's done Stoick…he's still your only son."

…

The morning of the fourth day rose and with it came a village wide summons to a meeting in the Meade hall. As always with such gatherings there was much muttering and a lot of speculation as to what was going on; from the logical suggestion that it was intended to discuss preparations for the approaching winter, to the ridiculous that Snotlout was going to be named the new heir (three guesses where that idea came from.)

The population of Berk slowly filled the wide expanse of the hall, flooding in like a wave crashing up the beach, filling up all available space and jostling for position around the wide oval table that took up the centre of the room.

Through it all Stoick remained seated at the head of the table; silent and intimidating. He no longer resembled a wraith that had dragged itself from the gates of Hel, the only remnant of his former exhausted appearance were the dark circles beneath his eyes that had yet to fade, however the stormy grey eyes that only spoke of cold rage were the clearest sign that on this day Stoick was not to be tested.

He didn't even acknowledge Gobber or Spitelout as they took up their positions either side of him.

Stoick kept his eyes focused forward, his hands folded before his face and his elbows resting on the table; simply waiting as the last villager squeezed past the heavy oak doors of the entrance just before they shut with a booming thud. Even this did not silence the gossiping Vikings, their low murmurs gradually building into shouts as each sought to be heard above the other. Their talk only ceased when Stoick finally moved.

The sudden silence that descended across the hall as he stood only added to the imposing atmosphere that seemed to cling to the Chief, giving an edge of silent ferocity that was more terrifying than a charging Monstrous Nightmare fully clad in flame. When he spoke his voice easily carried across the ancient hall.

He addressed the crowd at large "I will not keep you here long, there are only a few matters that need be discussed this morning" seeing that he had every Vikings attention he continued. "The first matter is the current training of this years' recruits; after the disastrous events of the final test there shall be no more Dragon Training this year." Immediately there was an outcry from the younger generation; groans of disappointment, shouts of disbelief and calls of how it was "unfair" mingled together to create an undecipherable din.

"Silence!" the group instantly grew quiet allowing Stoick to continue. "Gobber and the Elder will decide, based upon your previous performance within training, which of you; if any, are worthy of defending the village. The rest will continue their training next year but for now will return to their fire watch duties…The dragons in the arena have already been dealt with."

Pausing for a moment to see if anyone would dare to try and complain again Stoick met the gaze of each young Viking and was unsurprised to see they did not, though he was surprised when his gaze fell upon the Hofferson girl and for a brief moment he thought he saw…relief? He wasn't sure, the emotion was replaced with her usual serious glare so quickly that he concluded he must have been mistaken.

"Secondly; with the recent damage to our armada, the reports of encroaching sea ice from the north and with no method of navigating the perpetual mist surrounding Helheim's Gate there will be no searches for the Nest until the spring thaw. At this time we must focus on the coming winter, our stocks are already low and we must prepare our defences; we cannot afford to lose anything else to those demons."

A collective sigh of relief swept across the room at this announcement, the villagers were still reeling from the last in a long line of failed attempts to find the Nest and Stoick could not afford his warriors moral to sustain another blow. For now they would rest, focus on their defences and gathering strength.

"Finally…" Stoick hesitated, a deep feeling of regret and sadness welling up from his stomach at what he was about to do, but it was soon overwhelmed by the furious anger that had possessed him since that day in the arena…since his sons' betrayal. "…from this day forth Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III is stripped of his title as Heir. He is to be labelled a traitor to the Hairy Hooligan Tribe and should he ever dare to return to these shores he is to be captured alive, if possible, so he may be tried before the God's for his betrayal…"

All of a sudden the quiet of the Meade Hall turned into indistinguishable noise as the crowd burst with questions and wild speculation. This had never been done before, it was unprecedented in the history of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, so the uproar of the crowd was not unexpected.

Stoick felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to the side to see Gobber not only looking concerned but shocked as well, ignoring his friend Stoick brought his fist down upon the table in order to gain his audiences attention. When quiet had once again fallen he spoke "…as a result the title of Heir shall pass to Snotlout Jorgenson as per the laws of our tribe, he shall retain this title until he takes his position as Chief or loses this title in a Right of Challenge. The Right of Challenge may not be invoked until after his sixteenth name day." He gave the gathered crowd a moment for the news to sink in before he continued "This meeting is over!"

Ever so slowly, one by one the crowd began to filter out of the hall, to disperse into smaller groups and go about their business or more likely to gossip about what had just happened, Stoick saw Spitelout start to move but stopped him "Spitelout, bring your boy back here in an hour; there's some matters of the succession to discuss." His brother in law still seemed a little shocked by Stoick's announcement but he managed to nod just before he left.

Finally the hall was empty, or so Stoick thought.

"Do you have any idea what you have just done?" Gobber's voice was disturbingly calm but the dark glare that marred his features spoke of the Smiths barely controlled rage.

Stoick was about to speak but Gobber kept going. "Wait, don't answer that cause obviously you don't. So let me sum it up for ye. Not only have you placed the future of the village on the shoulders of a boy; who has about as much sense as a Frost Giant that thinks it would be a grand idea to take a bath in an active volcano." Here Gobber paused for dramatic effect before continuing "but you've also basically all but condemned your _**only SON**_, to death!"

Gobber's words reverberated off the stone pillars throughout the hall, echoing again and again until they finally faded into nothing.

The silence that stood between the two old friends that were as close as brothers' was broken by four simple words.

"I have no son."

* * *

Hiccup

The sun was rising on a new day, lighting up the skies and chasing away the shadows that had dominated the night; save for one.

Like a wraith Toothless flew just above the cover of the clouds; his black wings absorbed the suns' rays as he basked in its dawning glow, soaking up the heat. Through the stray gaps that appeared in the dense cloud coverage he and his rider could catch snatches of the sea below and the odd rocky outcrop and volcanic vents that passed for an island this far out to sea.

"All right bud, we've been taking it easy for the last few hours; what do you say to one last sprint before we call it quits?"

Toothless tilted his head back so he could see his rider, Hiccup couldn't help but laugh when he saw the excited spark that entered the Night Fury's green eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes." Hiccup shouted over the howling wind.

A nod was all the warning Toothless gave him before folding his wings, a mere second after Hiccup shifted his weight and pushed down with his heel causing the prosthetic tail to fold; increasing their speed and giving Toothless complete control for the brief time that they fell. Feeling the drag from his tail fade Toothless took full advantage: with a slight adjustment to the position of his right wing he caught the breeze and sent himself and Hiccup tumbling through the clouds.

Hiccup tightened his hold on the hand grips of the saddle so hard that he could feel his fingers leaving an imprint in the hard leather. With the sheer strength of the wind whipping past them as they fell tears began to gather in Hiccup's eyes, but he barely noticed as a cry of pure exhilaration ripped from his chest.

Only when they could feel the ocean spray against their skin did they pull out of their dive. As Toothless pulled his head back and began to spread his wings Hiccup got ready to take control once more. Toothless' wings unfurled and they were thrown back into the open sky; though not before Toothless' front legs clipped the cresting waves causing Hiccup to get splashed straight in the face.

Even chocking on sea water Hiccup was still able to laugh.

"So that's how you want to play it?" Hiccup teased as he wiped his soaked bangs from his forehead.

Toothless looked up at Hiccup over his shoulder, looking a little too smug in his rider's opinion.

"Okay bud, but remember; you're the one that started this." Before Toothless even had a chance to look confused Hiccup had rolled his weight onto the ball of his foot locking the prosthetic tail into a position that forced Toothless to descend. The pair dived towards the sea and Hiccup only unlocked the tail, allowing Toothless to pull up when they were inches from the freezing water's.

A growl which could only be described as an indignant yelp escaped the young dragon when a wave broke against his snout, splashing salty water in his mouth and nose.

"You had enough?" Hiccup chuckled, but his laughter soon died. "Toothl-GLEBURH!" before he could even finish calling the Night Fury's name Toothless folded his wings and dove beneath the oceans waves.

…

"I hope you're happy now." Hiccup said rather sullenly as he hammered a second forked stick into the sand next to a roaring fire.

Toothless looked up from cleaning the scales on his forelegs; he took one look at the sopping wet and naked from the waist up Hiccup before devolving into a fit of laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Hiccup had to raise his voice slightly to be heard over Toothless' deep guttural laugh. "Just so you know; you have now lost any chance of me helping you get the salt out from between your scales. Congratulations."

Toothless simply gave a huff and went back to cleaning his scales, but Hiccup could tell by the way his ears twitched down that Toothless wasn't as unfazed as he was trying to appear.

Hiccup just ignored him and returned to what he had been doing. Checking to see that both the sticks were stable Hiccup balanced a relatively straight stick between them, he then proceeded to hang every piece of clothing he had brought with him over it. Well almost every piece; luckily his trousers had dried off quickly enough from the combined heat of the morning sun and the fire he had started on the beach.

Mournfully Hiccup inspected his brown bear's skin vest; even after rinsing it with his other clothes under the cool clear water of a small waterfall that cascaded down one of the cliffs that surrounded the bay the garment still seemed beyond salvation. Clumps of sodden fur appeared irredeemably tangled together and even after a third rinse the vest still smelled heavily of the sea. He rang it out once more trying to get as much water out of it as possible before hanging it on the stick to dry with the rest of his clothes. He still remembered the night he had first gotten the vest: he had been sitting by the fire with the rest of the kids his age, all of them no older than seven at the time, listening to one of Gobber's many tales. One of his many exaggerated tales.

Being mid-winter Hiccup was unsurprised when a glacial wind blew through the village, sending a cold shiver down his spine even though he sat so close to the fire. He was surprised however when he felt something heavy fall upon his small shoulder's.

Looking back he saw thick brown fur where before there had only been his usual green shirt, but before he has time to process what he was seeing his attention was stolen by the imposing looking figure standing above him: his father.

"That should keep the chill at bay." His father had said with a soft smile. A smile that Hiccup could count the number of times he had seen it on one hand and still have fingers to spare. At that moment he didn't question his father he merely huddled down further into what he now realised was his father's cloak and soaked up the lingering warmth.

When the stories were finally finished and everyone was returning to their homes Hiccup had tried to return his father's cloak but his father had merely given him a gentle pat on the back and ushered him towards the house.

"You'll grow into it soon enough son" was all his father had said.

His father had been wrong of course but Hiccup still looked upon that moment as one of his most treasured memories. Eventually Hiccup had turned the cloak into his trademark vest after he realised that he would never have his father's impressive build. A large expanse of left over fur still hung in his workshop in the back of Gobber's shop; several times he had woken after falling asleep at the workbench to find the cloak draped over his shoulders, though he never asked; he knew it was Gobber's doing.

Shaking his head so he wouldn't dwell on his memories Hiccup reached for his pack. Even with all his clothes out drying the woven basket was still pretty full; a few choice smithing tools took up most of the space and also accounted for most of the weight but these weren't what he was looking for at the moment (he'd have to make sure he properly cleaned and oiled them all later, to stop them from rusting). Just as he was about to resign himself to tipping the packs contents out onto the sand before him he found what he was looking for, right at the bottom trapped beneath the handle of a hammer that had wedged itself at an odd angle. Turning it over in his hands he examined the journal and was relieved to find that the oilskin that bound the book had done its job and kept the sea water from ruining the pages, maps, drawings and schematics it contained. He made a mental note to look into lining the inside of his basket with oilskins or something similarly effective. Taking out the map he unfolded it and took a second to inspect his work thus far; in the middle sat a detailed sketch of Berk and almost directly south laid a somewhat less detailed sketch of the Red Death's lair. (A never ending cover of mist made it kind of hard to get an idea for the geography of an area). These were the two largest islands depicted on his hand sketched map so far but they were by no means the only. Spreading out from Berk in the centre, several smaller islands dotted the ever growing patchwork of pages; in the last seven days since he and Toothless had left Berk they had managed to travel farther and faster than Hiccup could have imagined. So far they had mapped out over twenty different islands, Hiccup was glad to note that most of the dragons that had flown away during his and Toothless' raid on the Red Death's lair had chosen to settle on these isles instead of returning.

At the thought of the Red Death's lair he couldn't stop his hand unconsciously moving towards the now exposed wound on his back. It was healing nicely and he didn't think his impromptu salt water bath had made it any worse, though it was stinging quite a bit, he was still going to keep it bound; just until the scabs stopped cracking every time he moved.

Reaching into the bag Hiccup fished out a roll of fresh linen (thankfully the leather bag he kept his medical supplies in had kept most of the water out) and set about idly binding his back and left shoulder while his eyes still roamed the map, working out the size and location of the island he and Toothless were currently on in relation to the ones they had already recorded. After a few minutes, when his hands were once again free he drew out a fresh sheet of paper and began sketching. He had only just gotten the basic outline of the island finished when he felt a sudden pressure on his head.

"Toothless!" the indignant yell barely made it out before Hiccup found himself pinned beneath the Night Fury.

"Toothless! Oh come on! What are you-argh!" Hiccup tried to wriggle his way free but Toothless had his legs trapped. Satisfied that his rider would not be able to escape Toothless began rubbing his chin against the top of his riders' head, which left Hiccup rather confused…until he figured out what the Night Fury was trying to do.

"My hair is not a brush to clean your scales!"

In reply Toothless simply licked him before going back to using Hiccup's hair to remove the irritating salt crystals that had formed between his scales.

"Okay! Okay! I'll help! Just stop. For the love of Thor stop!" With a triumphant huff Toothless finally let the young Viking go.

Scrambling to his feet Hiccup scooped up a hand full of sand and tried to wipe away the dragon spit that now clung to his face and hair. It wasn't long before he noticed Toothless curled around his feet nudging at his knee as he waited for Hiccup to get to work.

"Yeah, yeah you lazy lizard, I know" with a resigned sigh he retrieved a bristle brush and started working out the salt between the Night Fury's scales, from the contented purr and the way Toothless' ears would occasionally flick it was apparent that having his scales cleaned had quite the relaxing effect on the dragon.

So relaxing in fact that before Hiccup new it Toothless was asleep, unsurprising; they had been flying most of the night, just as they had every night since they left Berk (it had seemed kind of a waste to travel during the day when Toothless could literally disappear into the shadows of the night) .The Viking had half a mind to join his friend but he still had some stuff to do; like finishing his map.

A few minutes later he inspected the finished sketch, it was as he looked over the clean, detailed lines that depicted the island he was currently sitting on that he noticed something rather interesting. The beach which he now sat on was the only way to access the island by sea; the rest of the island consisting of sheer cliffs surrounded by sharp rocks and shallow reefs that made it impossible for any ships to get close. The waters just off the beach weren't much better; a relatively deep clear water lagoon ended in an almost wall of jagged towering sea stacks with only a few gaps that would prove impossible for anything larger that a two man boat to navigate through. In other words… it was perfect.

So far they hadn't been attacked by anything, dragon or otherwise, the topography of the island made it easily defendable (war strategy had been one of the very few things he had never failed at as the Heir of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe). There were plenty of Natural materials he could use to build himself a shelter (a poor description of the design that was already forming in his mind) and there was a ready supply of fresh water in the form of natural springs that dotted the island.

The location of the island was also an advantage; barely half a days' flight from Berk, a journey that would take two days by ship even with a fair wind. It was also close to several of the islands he had seen the fleeing dragons' settling on.

It would be a lot of work with just him and Toothless, building a forge would be one of his first priorities as the small number of tools he had managed to bring with him wouldn't be enough to help construct the ambitious structure that was already coming to life within his mind. Picking up his journal once more he turned to a clean page, only to pause when he realised he had not yet named the island.

In a stroke of inspired irony Hiccup quickly wrote two words at the top of the page:

Muspelheim's Gate.

Muspelheim, one of the nine worlds connected by the tree Yggdrasil; said to be a realm of fire ruled by a black demon. It seemed fitting.

Finishing his preliminary sketch Hiccup tucked his journal away before checking the fire, once he was sure it wouldn't go out for at least a few hours he then turned to check that the clothes he had set out to dry weren't going to catch fire. Having done this he all but crawled back to where Toothless lay fast asleep and set himself down next to his friend, within seconds of his eyes closing Hiccup was asleep.

…

When Hiccup opened his eyes it took a moment for his mind to process what he was actually seeing. He could only have been asleep for a few hours at most so when he looked up only to see darkness he was understandably confused. The confusion soon cleared when he felt a gust of hot, rather pungent breath sweep through his hair and he turned to come face to face with a still sleeping Toothless.

Looking up once more he realised that the darkness he was seeing was not the night sky as he had first assumed but the black membrane of Toothless' wing; a wing that was stretched over him protecting him from the elements. Shifting Hiccup tried to slowly manoeuvre his way from beneath his friends' colossal wing without waking him but he realised he'd failed when the appendage above him moved to reveal the noon day sun.

"Sorry bud, didn't mean to wake you." In response all Hiccup got was an unamused look and a yawn as Toothless stretched; spreading his wings and looking very much like a cat as he extended his legs and arched his back. With that done he shook the excess sand from his scales and headed off to a shaded rocky plateau, finding what Hiccup assumed must have been a comfy spot Toothless circled once, then again this time breathing fire onto the flat rock as he moved. Satisfied he settled down on the slightly glowing rock, curling his tail and folding his wings lightly around him, within seconds the soft rumble of Toothless' snores could be heard echoing off the nearest cliff face.

With an exasperated sigh that was more a repressed laugh Hiccup went to check on his clothes and the fire, more than happy to let his friend sleep.

The fire by this time had burned down to embers but it had done its job well, with a relieved smile Hiccup pulled on one of his freshly dried shirts and quickly changed into a clean pair of trousers; glad to be rid of the half maddening itch that the dried salt had created.

He was about to place another log on the still glowing bed of embers, but whilst walking past his make shift clothes line his hand brushed against his fur vest which still hung off the stick. Dropping the log, careful to avoid the hot cinders that flew skywards in its wake, he bent to inspect the garment. He spent a few moments simply staring at it but all too soon he came to a decision.

Picking up the vest he turned towards the fire which burned fiercely once more, he paused, the fur resting in his arms hovering just above the reach of the flames…and then he dropped it.

Almost instantly the fur caught, black smoke rising from its curling form as blue and lavender tinged flames ate away at it.

Hiccup quickly turned his back on the sight, choosing instead to focus on what his future held…not the past.

* * *

AN: Thanks to everyone for reading, now please for the love of Freya: REVIEW!


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